A55 REST POINTS COULD SAVE LIVES - BURNHAM

12.00.00am GMT Wed 12th Mar 2008

Small scale rest areas for lorry drivers modelled on the successful French example would give a major boost to road safety in North Wales, Eleanor Burnham told AMs today.

Eleanor Burnham, Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for North Wales, said: "Whilst there are designated rest points for car drivers there are currently no places at all for lorry drivers on one of Europe's most important roads. This lack of facilities is endangering the lives of road users in North Wales. Over tired lorry drivers are being forced into breaching EU regulations on driving time because there is nowhere for them to stop, risking fatal collisions.

"The A55 is the longest and busiest road in my constituency, which stretches from Holyhead eastwards and into England. It is becoming busier and busier due to increased tourist and commercial traffic and there has been a rise in the number of serious collisions and accidents on the road.

"Small scale rest areas - hafanau - could be built much more cheaply and quickly than large developments and could be spread more evenly across the A55 ensuring safe places to rest or stop along the entire carriageway."

The current proposal to tackle the problem is to build a large lorry stop and enterprise park at Caerwys, just south of junction 31 but these plans have come up against local opposition.

Mrs Burnham added: "As the hafanau would be smaller, there would be less local opposition. We could also use them as gateways to communities across the A55, with tourists able to stop, use the facilities and find information on local towns and villages."

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