'The Welsh people have had to suffer' over lack of action on M4
The Brynglas tunnels were called a "national symbol...of 26 years of mismanagement"
(Image: South Wales Echo )
People in Wales have had to suffer because of the Welsh Government's decision to scrap the M4 relief road, Senedd members said.
A debate in Cardiff Bay heard arguments from a series of Conservative Senedd members criticising the decision, made six years ago this month not to proceed with a £1.5bn plan to divert the M4 south of Newport on a new six-lane route to avoid the Brynglas tunnels bottleneck.
One Tory MS said the Brynglas tunnels were a "national symbol...of 26 years of mismanagement".
The Welsh Conservatives picked the M4 relief road as the topic of their debate in the meeting of the full Senedd, calling for the Welsh Government to put the idea back on the table. You can read the history to the debate here.
Both Plaid Cymru and Labour voted against the motion. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here .
Former deputy minister for transport Lee Waters told the Senedd "new roads lead to more traffic".
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He said before the tolls on the Severn Bridge were removed in 2018 traffic was forecast to rise by 17%. However, he said National Highways figures show it is now up 34% compared to when there were tolls.
"That's what happens when you increase road capacity, when you encourage and incentivise driving—32,000 vehicles a day now crossing the Severn bridge. A University of London study last year showed that, as a result, more people are now commuting from Newport to Bristol because what happens when you increase road capacity is people simply move further away from their place of work. So they drive further.
"As a result, house prices within a 5km range of the bridge are now up by 13%. Double the rise in Newport. So that's what happens. People travel more.
"They travel further from their place of living to their work, and more journeys are created. So, as soon as you've built the road, the traffic congestion levels are up and, lo and behold, what's the next demand? Build another road to relieve the congestion. And round and round we go. And the evidence is clear, it doesn't work."
However, the Welsh Conservatives criticised the scheme being stopped. Welsh Conservative MS Sam Rowlands told colleagues: "The Welsh Government spent £135.7 million of public money on plans for the M4 relief road before scrapping it.
"FOI requests from the Welsh Conservatives on the scheme found that 29 homes were purchased for over £15 million through compulsory purchase orders.
"Two of these properties were bought for £575,000 and £400,000 in April 2019, just two months before the First Minister decided to ditch the scheme.
"At least £44 million was spent by the Welsh Government on development costs and a public inquiry, an inquiry that in fact backed the building of the relief road, saying the economic benefit of the project would outweigh the cost by two to one.
"At every step of this journey, there's been indecision and money wasted.
"At the end of it all, it's been the Welsh people who've had to suffer as a result."
Fellow Conservative MS Gareth Davies said: "The Brynglas tunnels have become a national symbol—a bottleneck where people sit stationary for miles in traffic. It's a perfect illustration of 26 years of mismanagement".
Transport minister Ken Skates refuted the Welsh Government had "stood still" in improving things at the M4.
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"Lord Burns and the South East Wales Transport Commission put forward recommendations on both the short-and-long-term solutions to relieve congestion, and the short-term measures have been fully implemented on the M4," he said.
He referenced plans for the so-called Burns stations - east Cardiff, west Newport, Somerton, Llanwern, and Magor and Undy - which saw a financial commitment from the UK Government in Rachel Reeves' spending review. You can see the five stations here.
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