a day ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
How has the Heads of the Valleys road helped communities?
The Bevan Foundation and the Taxpayers Alliance have come to radically different conclusions on the project.
Work concluded in May this year, at an official cost of £1.4bn.
The road's dualling of the A465 section was conducted by Welsh Government and cost some £500 million.
The complex project ran over budget.
The ambitious sections between Gilwern and Brynmawr, running through the deep Clydach Gorge, delayed the project by three years and inflated costs by nearly£150 million.
Welsh Think tank The Bevan Foundation, attempting to make sense of the Welsh Government's brake on road building and squaring it with the costs of the mega-investment, concluded the road means yet more investment across the whole area, which is essential to upskill the population and drive growth.
In its report, the foundation concluded that much of the poor land and poor built environment needed upgrading, training and skills needs to be led by the Welsh Government and local authorities.
By just building a road that has few users in a deindustrialised area, the whole region could be stuck in what economists call the Middle-Income Trap, where countries just reassemble complex goods and add little value and create few high-skilled jobs.
Meanwhile, the Taxpayers' Alliance questioned the Welsh Government's whole 'muddled' approach to transport and development.
Thay argue it isn't even whether the road cost £1.4 billion or £2 billion, due to a 'dissembling bureaucracy.'
They warn Wales needs to learn lessons or it will become saddled with a series of 'sunk cost fallacies.'
A spokesman for the group said: "While Welsh taxpayers will be relieved to see roadworks finally completed, they will be aghast at enormous costs and absurd time it has taken to get the project over the line.'
Mocking the outcome of a 50mph road after 23 years and a fortune spent, the group said: "Twenty three years and billions spent - upgrading a single stretch of road while essential infrastructure maintenance in other parts of Wales has been ignored!
"Ministers in Cardiff need to get their act together and ensure that future projects are kept on time and within budget!"
Welsh Government was approached for a comment. They said they will unveil their vision for development of the area surrounding the road network on Thursday, June 12.
The Bevan Foundation's report is called A Route to Prosperity.
