CALLS for road safety measures to be installed on a road near a school in Cwmbran have been rejected by Torfaen council.

A petition requesting the installation of chicanes on Blenheim Road, in St Dials, was signed by 377 people.

It said residents have seen “near-misses on a weekly basis”, with the most recent involving a car being forced to mount a pavement at high speed.

But new traffic data obtained by Torfaen council did not support the request to install chicanes, or any other physical road safety measures on the road.

Traffic surveys showed a 23 per cent increase in traffic, and a slight increase in speeds, but council officers said this was not enough to support additional road safety measures.

Councillors supported the recommendations of officers at a full council meeting on Tuesday, which also noted the road is expected to become a 20mph zone from the summer of 2023.

But St Dials ward councillor Elizabeth Haynes, who set up the petition on behalf of constituents, urged members to vote against the recommendation not to install chicanes.

Cllr Haynes said the new traffic data “actually supports the residents’ stance” that traffic and speeding have increased.

She said the data showed that 299 vehicles are breaking the speed limit every day on Blenheim Road.

“It only takes one of those speeding cars to kill someone,” she said.

Independent councillor Gwyn Jenkins backed Cllr Haynes, calling the situation on the road ‘dreadful.’

“It’s time now that this council started listening to the residents,” he said.

Conservative councillor Huw Bevan called for alternative road safety measures to be considered.

He said: “I would support the officers to say chicanes are not required in this particular location, but I think we do need to look at alternative measures.”

Councillor Glyn Caron said it was “not an easy decision” for councillors.

“If there was someone injured or killed on this road, we all know that the residents will be pointing their fingers at the council because they have not met the recommendation of the residents,” he said.

“However if we met the recommendation of the residents and there was a fatality, we would then be in the position whereby we were going against officers’ advice and that we may even be making this road more dangerous by the installation of chicanes.”

Cllr Mandy Owen, executive member for environment, said the council would need to make a bid for road safety measures and that it would not currently meet the criteria.

“It’s disappointing, it’s frustrating, but what can we do?” she said.

“We are following policy, we are following procedure and the criteria is not met to warrant having the safety measures in place on this road.”