Llanaelhaearn victory in long crossing campaign

Jun 11 2009 Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald

RESIDENTS are celebrating after winning the fight to have a pedestrian crossing installed on a dangerous stretch of road in a Llyn village.

The Llanaelhaearn community council has been campaigning for years to see conditions on the A499 road, which runs through the village, improved for pedestrians.

Gwynedd Council has now confirmed that following discussions with the community council, work on the road has been earmarked for the near future.

Llanaelhaearn councillor Dafydd William Roberts said: “This has been an ongoing problem.

There is definitely a danger there because many youngsters need to cross the road to catch the school bus.

“Unfortunately, it seems like we had to see an accident happening on the road before something was done about it.”

Last year, 12-year-old Liam Jones was crossing a narrow lane called Ty’n Ffridd Terrace in Llanaelhaearn when he was struck down by a car. He was trying to catch a bus to nearby Ysgol Glan y Môr in Pwllheli when the accident happened.

The incident left him with head and leg injuries and he was taken to hospital. He spent four nights in hospital before being released.

Following the incident, Liam’s mother Caryl joined Llanaelhaearn Community Council’s renewed appeals for a pedestrian crossing on the road to stop similar accidents occurring in the future.

Chairman of the Llanaelhaearn community council Linda Cox said that they had spent years collecting “countless” petitions signed by local residents, all calling for traffic calming measures on the road leading through the village.

A Gwynedd Council spokesman said: “Following a discussion with the local community, Gwynedd Council intend to install a pedestrian crossing on the A499 road at Llanaelhaearn in the near future.

“The work will also involve the relocation of the existing bus stop.”

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