A FUNDING bid is being prepared for a walking and cycling route along a “dangerous” Monmouthshire road, following repeated calls for action.

A cyclist was seriously injured after a crash on the B4245 between Rogiet and Undy last month, prompting fresh calls for a safe route linking the villages.

The scheme has been mooted for several years, but funding issues have previously prevented plans being formalised.

But at a full Monmouthshire council meeting, cabinet member for infrastructure, Cllr Jane Pratt, said a bid for funding will be made next year.

Responding to calls for an update on the scheme from councillor Tony Easson, Cllr Pratt said: “Now that the M4 has been removed from the Welsh Government programme, highways will be making a bid in 2020 for funding to design and build a cycle and walking route through the B4245, linking Rogiet with Undy.

“The bid will be submitted sooner if a funding opportunity arises.”

Councillor Pratt said surveys are currently being undertaken to shape the scheme and estimate costs.

Up to £70,000, and land next to the road, have already been secured for the project.

Council leader, Cllr Peter Fox, said the route would be developed “as soon as possible.”

“We do know that road is extremely dangerous,” he added.

“None of us like walking or cycling down it.”

Lisa Dymock, member for the Elms ward in Undy, said she shared councillor Easson’s concerns over safety on the road.

A study commissioned by the council reported 39 accidents along the seven-mile stretch, which includes Caldicot and Magor, between October 2012 and September 2017.

There were 59 casualties – seven of which were serious – with pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists accounting for 29 per cent of the total casualties.

County councillors previously unanimously backed a motion by Cllr Easson calling for new road safety assessments to be made a priority.

Following the crash last month, a spokesman for Gwent Police said a 33-year-old man from Caldicot was arrested on suspicion of driving a motor vehicle dangerously and driving a motor vehicle fail to stop.

A 37-year-old man from Portskewett was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving a motor vehicle fail to stop.

Both men have been released under investigation.

The cyclist remains in a critical condition at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport.