A LAYBY on one of Chepstow busiest roads will be closed off imminently as part of work to make it safer, the Argus understands.

The widow of a man killed on the road last year, Chepstow Town Council and other local politicians have rallied for the Welsh Government to improve the A466 Wye Valley Link Road.

Gerald Russell died after being hit by two cars as he tried to cross it on October 27, 2015. His widow, Catherine, and their two daughter met former Welsh Government economy minister Edwina Hart in March to discuss how safety could be improved.

Chepstow Town Council clerk Caroline Tremeer told this newspaper that it is currently undecided which layby will be closed off but that she expects it to be the southbound carriageways, close to the Newhouse roundabout.

Mrs Hart also wrote to Mrs Tremeer before she officially left her post in May, before the Assembly elections, to assure her that work would be continued.

The Welsh Government is responsible for the A466 because it is a trunk road.

Warning signs urging motorists to consider their speed and pedestrians will also be put up along the road.

As this newspaper has previously reported, Gwent Police officers were called to 77 traffic accidents from January 1, 2011 until March 2, 2016 on the road.

Two of those involved fatalities – Mr Russell in October 2015 and 11-year-old Harrison Marshall and Ryan Griffiths on September 6, 2013.

Gwent Police’s outgoing South Monmouthshire police inspector Lysha Thompson wrote in her monthly online update, released today: “The meetings and the consultation process have progressed well.

"I was deeply moved at the meeting by the family of a man who was tragically killed on the road last October and I hope the suggested proposals for making this road safer are progressed quickly. I am sure my successor will continue to lead from a policing perspective on these changes.”