Construction And Community
19 May 2010
A West Wales road improvement project is bringing not
only relief to frustrated drivers and beleaguered villagers but
also plaudits to the Costain team building it.
The A40 trunk road in Pembrokeshire is a strategically important
route between the national motorway network and the port of
Fishguard. A 6km stretch between Penblewin and Slebech Park is
being made safer through the £37 million Welsh Assembly Government
project to bypass Robeston Wathen, together with other trunk and
side road improvements and environmental mitigation measures.
Currently the road has a poor alignment with limited overtaking
places and a consequently high accident rate. It also funnels heavy
traffic through the village of Robeston Wathen where pavements are
narrow or non-existent, making life difficult for pedestrians.
The project will create a bypass for the village and widen the
carriageway with a roadway design making its first appearance in
Wales. Some 4.5km will be in a '2 + 1' lane configuration, with
alternating eastbound and westbound stretches of road having twin
lanes to ease overtaking.
The project began in February 2009. It will be completed in
early 2011, but the Costain team is already making an impact on the
area.
Extensive work is underway with local schools, says the
project's Public Liaison Officer, Phil Baker. The project team
approached Sir Thomas Picton School in nearby Haverfordwest and, in
co-operation with Pembrokeshire County Council and other local
groups, pupils are working on a project to 're-brand' Robeston
Wathen.
Ideas put forward by Year 10 pupils have included a spa village,
designer outlet village, even a Las Vegas-style gambling
village.
The pupils are undertaking site visits, presentations and 'sales
pitches' on the future of the village, with the final being a
'Dragons' Den'- style presentation to a judging panel that includes
local business people, the Welsh Assembly Project Engineer and
Costain Project Manager Mark Young on 24 May.
"I'm astounded by the interest that the project has generated,"
says Phil. "An HTV film crew covered the first lesson where the
project was explained to one class of the year group; BBC camera
crews covered the launch, site visits and want to cover the final
presentations; and national and local radio stations are also
following it."
Apart from this, there have also been extensive site visits by
other local schools, including Greenhill School, Tenby, where
students were having difficulty gathering information for aspects
of their BTEC in Construction and where Phil is a governor.
With all these efforts, it was perhaps less than a complete
surprise that Phil was named Construction Skills Wales's
Construction Ambassador of the Year during this year's Skills
Competition Wales event.
The judging panel commented: "Phil has helped extensively in
West Wales supporting events such as school activity days,
work-based learning pathways, site visits and careers advisors'
training days. "
Further praise came from Martyn Leech, Project Engineer for the
Welsh Assembly Government, who described Phil's work as
"outstanding", adding: "There is a site team behind him who are so
willing to give of their time and energy in joining in."
Ends