The new Welsh Government seems to be moving towards a plan for managing congestion on the M4 at Newport that includes closing junctions as well as public transport improvements.
The South Wales Argus reports:
Motorway junction closures could be on the table as part of plans to tackle long-standing congestion problems, as the Welsh Government refuses to rule out any closures.
Speaking exclusively to the South Wales Argus, Deputy Minister for Transport, Mark Hooper, refused to rule out the closure of M4 junctions around Newport.
But while he said all options remain under consideration as part of a broader strategy to address traffic issues in the area – that does not include reviving plans for a new relief road scrapped by then First Minister Mark Drakeford, which remains firmly off the table
In many ways this isn’t any further on from what the paper reported in June, but we seem to be quite close to the announcement of a plan, so not ruling something out becomes more of a hint that it is very much on the table.
The Argus story notes that Hooper is promising an announcement “in the autumn” and that he will be “working it through over the next couple of weeks”.
It continues:
When asked what research would be needed to make the right decision, Mr Hooper said that extensive research and analysis have already been undertaken.
He said: “One thing I’ve tried to make sure happens, is there’s a lot of evidence already out there that has been worked up by Welsh governments and others, which gives us a real indication of how we could help the M4 be a bit more effective, especially around the tunnels, but also how we make sure that Newport works better as a system from a transport perspective.”
I’d say that is, to coin a phrase, “a real indication” that plans are already pretty firm.
Hooper did also acknowledge that public transport improvements in Newport would also be part of the fix and this of course was one of the problems with the previous (Labour) Welsh Government’s approach, that it scrapped the relief road but didn’t provide the corresponding improvements to public transport.
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