A CHIRK councillor is hoping that road plans for the region going before Westminster MPs may shed light on the need for improvements on a busy road.

Major plans to dual the A5 between Oswestry and Montford Bridge will be presented to members of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new cabinet.

Councillor Terry Evans, Wrexham County Borough Councillor for Chirk South, is hoping discussions may bring more attention to the A5 between Halton and Gledrid roundabouts.

Figures released last year showed that since 1991, there have been more than 1,785 casualties on the A5 north of Shrewsbury up to the Welsh border at Chirk – 58 of these casualties were fatal.

Cllr Evans hopes something can be done, and believes the volume of traffic on the road is constantly increasing.

“It seems as though there is an accident almost every week on the stretch,” he said. “Both myself and the town council have been saying improvements are needed for a while.

“The road just seems to be getting busier each year – no matter which day you go on there, you’re queuing from one roundabout to the next.

“The speed of some of the traffic on there makes you feel like you’re putting your life at risk at times.

“I know a lot of people get nervous driving up there. It’s at the point now where some people I know won’t use Gledrid or Halton roundabout because they feel the road is too dangerous.”

Cllr Evans fears work may not get carried out on the stretch however, as the best possible solutions would cost a lot of money to carry out.

He hopes North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson will be able to bring more attention to the road using his position: “The biggest improvement possible in my eyes would to have the road dualled on both sides, but that would cost a lot.

“It’s all down to money; we have to wait for the government to release the money before we can do anything.

“Now Mr Paterson is in a position to talk to Boris, hopefully it can shed some light on the problems the road has on both sides of Oswestry. As much as I would like to see it, I don’t think the required improvements will be made during my lifetime.”