MEASURES to improve road safety near schools in Torfaen are being considered following calls for action and an incident which a boy was hit by a car. Fifteen-year-old Deacon Rostron was taken to hospital following a crash on Blenheim Road, near Blenheim Road Community School in Cwmbran, last month.
Days before the crash councillors rejected calls for safety measures to be installed. The incident was raised by Independent councillor Janet Jones at a full meeting of Torfaen council on Tuesday.
“The recent incident on Blenheim Road has sadly gone on to highlight the continuing issues of safety faced by many councillors on a daily basis in and around schools,” she said.
“Could the authority now instruct our highways officers to undertake a full review of highway safety around all the schools in the borough?”
In response, Cllr Mandy Owen, executive member for environment, said that a members’ seminar on road safety will be held next month to consider the issue. The event will include representatives from Gwent Police and GoSafe to look at what can be done.
Council officers have also commissioned a review to look at the feasibility of putting speed-activating signs outside schools in the borough, the meeting heard.
New 20mph zones being introduced by the Welsh Government in 2023 are also expected to have “a big impact”, Cllr Owen said.
“I would like to offer assurance that road safety is important to Torfaen council, particularly around schools,” she said.
Cllr Owen said the measures outlined are aimed at tackling speeding issues, but that parents also have a responsibility to park properly at school drop-off and collection times.
However Cllr Jones, while welcoming a seminar to discuss the issue, said previous calls to improve road safety around schools had not been addressed by the council.
“Isn’t this a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted?” she said.
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