Senedd Conservatives to force vote on M4 relief road
Emily Price
The Senedd Conservatives have tabled a motion calling on the Welsh Government to deliver an M4 relief road.
This month marks six years since Welsh minister’s scrapped the controversial transport project.
The plans – worth £1.6bn – would have seen a 14-mile stretch of motorway built as a gateway into south Wales to tackle congestion around Newport.
Then First Minister, Mark Drakeford, announced he would axe the project in 2019 on the grounds of cost and the potential environmental impact.
Concerns were also raised about the impact on communities living nearby.
Drakeford said the M4 Corridor around Newport was not in the long term interests of Wales.
Protected
The move was welcomed by environmentalists who said the six lane stretch would have caused significant damage to the protected Gwent Levels – a historically significant coastal wetland.
It was the third time Welsh ministers shelved plans and broke a Welsh Labour manifesto pledge from 2016.
The scrapped project cost £150m of taxpayers’ money – £44m of which was spent on a public inquiry into the proposals.
The Welsh Conservatives say the government’s failure to implement the motorway has left motorists and businesses without a crucial solution to manage growing traffic demands.
Hotspot
The South East Wales Transport Commission report found that the M4 near Newport ranked within the top 50 traffic hotspots in Europe, and was the 4th most congested stretch of urban motorway in the United Kingdom.
The Senedd Tories have pledged to deliver on the scheme if they win the Welsh election next year.
In the Senedd on Wednesday (June 18), the group will call on the Welsh Government to deliver an M4 relief road.
Plaid Cymru has traditionally opposed the project and are expected to vote the motion down alongside Labour.
Commenting ahead of the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Secretary for Finance, Transport and Infrastructure, Sam Rowlands, said: “Labour’s decision to scrap the M4 relief road wasted huge amounts of money, and was an attack on Welsh motorists.
“An M4 relief road would have alleviated traffic demands, whilst boosting our economy and investment into Wales.
“Welsh Conservatives will always be on the side of motorists, and that’s why we’re calling for the M4 relief road to be delivered.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are pressing ahead with the recommendations of Lord Burns, for rail stations to be built to give people genuine alternatives to driving on the M4 around Newport.
“That is demonstrated by the UK Government’s commitment to the five transformational rail stations we want to see along the South Wales mainline and our work with the local authorities to improve connectivity.”
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Force a vote? They’ve tabled a standard non-binding motion in the Senedd, as the opposition parties do every week in the Senedd.
Why don’t the Cons and their pale blue imitation Reform propose a toll road? That solves the dilemma about taking billions out of health to fund it.
This road is only busy in peak times. What is the point of wasting money?
Sorry the peak times as you call them run from 6am till 8pm consistently daily there is no let up at all . We have climate change rammed down our necks by WLG and yet traffic on this motor is one of the most poisonous in the UK. BUT WLG refuse to develop a new road. They ignore the fact that this is one of most important routes in and out of Wales .
There are too many junctions around Newport that no longer make sense and just encourage local traffic. Start closing some of the slip roads like the one, going eastwards, just before the tunnel mouth. “B” class roads do not need a connection to a motorway which is meant to be for long distance traffic. Second as per the Burns report open the park and ride stations at Liswerry, Magor, Llanwern etc to give some alternatives. Third, widen the M4 to three lanes through the Magor junction and the junction with the A449 Ross Spur to the Midlands. These are also… Read more »
While South Wales now has a reliable clean and very cheap train service to use, half of those cars really don’t have to be there.
Surely it’s just completely illogical to waste billions on a road, decimate the local wildlife and basically just create more pollution to appease those who won’t give up their cars.