Swansea businesses claim The Kingsway is affecting trade

The Kingsway road has affected trade "more than the recession", a business owner in Swansea has claimed.

Another trader said temporary barriers put up in April following the death of Sgt Louise Lucas in March are not keeping pedestrians safe.

A man was hit by a bus on The Kingsway on Monday and suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Swansea council said it was still looking at ways to remove eastbound traffic.

The circumstances surrounding the latest incident are not known.

Businesses on The Kingsway claimed some people are walking down the central reservation so they did not have to wait at the crossings.

Jonathan Coffey, owner of Rogues hair salon, said work on the road over the past few years had affected his business "more than the recession".

But he added that people were beginning to get used to the temporary barriers.

"When it was first done the traffic did affect us," he said.

"Traffic and pedestrians don't mix but you can't blame it all on the road system.

"People do need to be careful, it only takes one slight lapse in concentration."

Another trader, who did not want to be named, told BBC Radio Wales that publicity of incidents on The Kingsway is portraying visiting the city centre as "taking your life into your own hands".

"It's killing businesses, people don't want to come to town any more," the trader said.

"The Kingsway is absolutely terrible, the traffic is chaotic, people don't know how to cross the road basically. It's dangerous."

But Julie Williamson, chairwoman of the Federation of Small Businesses in Swansea Bay, said it was a temporary transition period.

"Traders have suffered greatly since the reorganisation of the traffic," she said.

"But quite a lot of us are confident that once the planned building works and the offices coming into The Kingsway is complete, I really do feel that Swansea is going to be a much, much better place.

"There were fears that maybe the barriers would be misused. I'm not aware of it but I think the council realise it's only a step they're taking to keep things safe for the time being."

A council spokesman said: "We have recently introduced safety barriers on Kingsway's central reservation that follow on from the introduction of 20mph (32km/h) limits and pedestrian signage last year.

"We're also still examining a scheme for the removal of eastbound traffic on Kingsway. It would be inappropriate to comment on any incident before the full information is available."