RESIDENTS living along one stretch of the A40 between Raglan and Abergavenny will benefit from Welsh Government plans to reduce road noise, but villagers a few miles away will miss out.

As reported last week,

work to mitigate the noise levels on the concrete road surface will begin in the summer and autumn

. People living near the road have campaigned for many years to have the road re-surfaced.

Welsh transport minister Ken Skates AM has now confirmed the stretch of A40 which passes through The Bryn is in the top 10 priority sites in Wales, and that mitigation will go ahead in the current financial year.

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"These works include installation of a number of acoustic barriers along the A40 between Abergavenny and Raglan, near areas of local residential properties," Mr Skates wrote in a letter to Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay. "The concrete carriageway will also be surface dressed with a material to reduce tyre noise from vehicles using the A40.

“We have also arranged to undertake noise sampling at various sites, and importantly, at properties before and after construction in order to compare levels. This information will be shared with the community."

But there was less cause for cheer for villagers in Bryngwyn, five miles to the east.

In his letter to Mr Ramsay, the transport minister wrote: “The Bryngwyn site does not score as highly as The Bryn, based on numbers of dwellings within the area, and number of people likely to be affected.

"There are higher priorities in Wales that must be considered first. However, the Bryngwyn site will be addressed as soon as funding allows.”

Reacting to Mr Skates' decision, Mr Ramsay said: “Clearly, I’m pleased that we will at last see some progress to reduce noise levels emanating from the concrete A40. after all the years on campaigning on this issue.

"However, I’m sorry residents in the Bryngwyn area will not be pleased at this latest announcement.

“I will be awaiting the outcome of the noise assessments once the mitigation measures are completed near The Bryn, and will continue the campaign for other residents thereafter.”

Mr Skates also confirmed there were no plans to reduce the speed limit along that stretch of the A40.