Dual the A5 campaign: Border lines must be ignored, says MP

Glyn Davies, MP for Montgomeryshire, said he was doing all he could to press for improvements to roads such as the A5 and A483 that run through both countries.

And he revealed that more than 30 years ago when the A5/A483 Oswestry bypass was first mooted, he and other members of the then Montgomeryshire planning committee recommended construction be refused until road could be built as a dual carriageway.

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Mr Davies said he had been working alongside North Shropshire MP, Owen Paterson for many years to press for improvements to the local road network.

He said the England/Wales border should not hinder improvements.

"There should be no border when infrastructure like the road network is involved," he said.

"I would like to see the Welsh and the English Government's work together to ensure that the A5 and A483 improvements are made."

The mid Wales MP spent many years in local government and was a Welsh Assembly member before he was elected to parliament.

"When I was on the Montgomeryshire Planning Committee about 40 years ago we opposed the improvements to the A5 between Oswestry and the Welsh border because they were only single carriageway.

READ MORE: Full coverage of our 'Dual the A5' campaign

"Future traffic projections back then showed that unless the road was built as a dual carriageway it would become inadequate for the volume of vehicles that would be using it.

"We voiced those fears but the road went ahead. Now we and many others at the time have been proved right."

The Shropshire Star's Dual It campaign wants to see the road turned into a two lane, dual carriageway between Montford Bridge and the Welsh border.

People from across the county and beyond had signed our on-line and print petition calling on roads minister, John Hayes to include the A5 in the strategic road investment strategy.

The 18-mile stretch of the A5 between Montford Bridge and the border at Chirk is, with the exception of the Nesscliffe bypass the only section of single carriageway road between Dover and Holyhead.

The route, along with that from Felixstowe is part of a key international network linking mainland Europe to Ireland via Holyhead.

Since 1991 there have been more than 1,785 casualties on the road. Of those 58 have led to someone losing their life, 320 have been classes as causing serious injury and 1,785 slight injury.

As well as the human tragedy it is estimated that the cost to the public purse since 1992 is in the region of £220 million.