Residents are becoming frustrated with the number of car crashes that occur on their street.
Cars have been written off, dented or scratched, wing mirrors have been torn off, and residents have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket to fix their vehicles after car crashes on their "nightmare" road. James White, 42, has been a resident at Abercynon Road, in Mountain Ash, for the last 13 years but claims the crashes have only recently become a problem.
Last August, his Audi A6 was written off after a drunk driver crashed into multiple cars on the street. Since this incident, his wife's car has also been damaged and other residents have had their wing mirrors taken off by other cars driving over the 30mph limit in the area.
He said: "I think it’s because there’s been an increase of cars per household and there’s no space to park. We will grow soon as my son will be learning to drive in April, so there’ll be another car here. It’s only going to get worse. We love our house and our neighbours, we’re close to family here but there’s no parking."
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He added: "It’s made us consider moving. If the house prices weren’t so high, we’d probably have made that decision already. But because of the housing market, we went with plan B and asked the council to move the bus station from outside our house. Moving is still on the cards - we did buy a house pre-Covid but it fell through. We then decided to stay and then the accidents happened. We got in touch with the council so we’re sticking with plan B at the moment.
"The council were brilliant with helping, we’ve been after it for a while but as soon as the accident happens that’s when things started to happen. We did a petition in the street and the majority agreed - I think the only ones who were against it because it was moving closer to them."
A spokesperson for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said: “In relation to the local bus stop arrangements, the Council will shortly undertake a consultation exercise in relation to the re-allocation of a formalised stop adjacent to 187 Abercynon Road. The results of the consultation will then be considered, with any resulting works aimed to be carried out within this financial year (2022/23).”
Raj Patlola, 43, owner of the Premier Express on Abercynon Road said: "It’s been an issue for a long time. Morning time is manic and people double park on the road making it narrow. If you come through in the morning with the school buses and big lorries - it’s havoc.
"I tried to speak to the council about getting double or a single yellow line put outside the shop - that would be an advantage to us so people can come in and grab their stuff and a single yellow line. " However, Raj has had no success. Both his vehicles have been hit numerous times and Raj claims that one incident cost him £3.5k to replace a door on his car.
A spokesperson for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said: “The Council receives numerous requests for the introduction of similar measures, for example, parking restrictions, in areas across the County Borough. However, it is only possible to progress a limited number of parking restriction schemes a year within current resources.
“We are aware of a request for the introduction of waiting restrictions in Abercynon Road, and this will remain a consideration for possible inclusion in a future capital programme.
“However, if waiting restrictions were to be introduced, this would reduce the opportunities for parking in an area where demand for parking is high – and could lead to further difficulties for residents.
“It should be noted that the speed limit on this section of road is likely to be reduced as part of the Welsh Government initiative to introduce a default 20mph speed limit across Wales. If successful, this would see a reduction in vehicle speed along the route."
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