The County Council has formally agreed to reduce the speed on the old Monmouth Road, often referred to as Groesonen Road, following a campaign by two local county councillors.

Cllrs Richard John and Jayne Mckenna had raised concerns about the speed of traffic on the residential road, which adjoins to the A40 at Raglan. The pair had undertaken a survey of residents’ views in the area and there was overwhelming support for the derestricted national speed limit to be reduced to 40mph.

The new speed limit will be introduced later in the year, after a new traffic order was formally agreed on Wednesday. The new limit will apply from the A40 Raglan junctions past Frank Suttons and just beyond Elms Road, the turning for Kingcoed.

Speed monitoring had been undertaken earlier in the year, which revealed 85th percentile speeds (which the council uses as a key indicator) in excess of 50mph.

Cllr Richard John said, “Jayne and I did a thorough consultation with residents and there was overwhelming support for a reduction to 40mph. Of course, motorists want to get from A to B and we can’t have lower limits everywhere, but in this residential area, the council agreed that the national limit wasn’t appropriate.”

Cllr Jayne McKenna said, “We’re grateful to all the residents who backed our campaign for road safety improvements in this area, including the repainting of white lines. This is a step in the right direction and will hopefully reduce traffic speeds, especially coming off the dual carriageway.

“We remain concerned at the lack of progress on the Raglan crossings, where the public had been promised progress within a year of publication of the Welsh Government’s road safety study. The Council and Welsh Government have provisionally agreed to three quick wins and they need to get on with it.”