£100m EARMARKED FOR SCHEMES TO IMPROVE TRANSPORT ACROSS WALES

A TOTAL of £100m is to be spent on roads, buses and active travel routes in Wales as part of a major scheme to improve transport across Wales.

The huge sum is being invested by the Welsh Government in every area of Wales in a bid to improve bus journey times, address disruptions and encourage more people to walk and cycle.

All 22 councils in Wales were asked to submit proposals to the Welsh Government for local transport improvements in their areas, which were then allocated funding based on the priorities and ambitions of Wales’Transport Strategy Llwybr Newydd.

Among the major projects given funding are £1m towards walking and cycling connections to Llandudno station, £3.37m for the Haverfordwest bus interchange, £4.15m for a cycle scheme at Roath

Recreation Ground and more than £2m for bus corridors in Cardiff.

Cabinet Secretary for North

Wales and Transport Ken Skates said the grants were a “substantial investment to support sustainable local economic growth, enhance public transport facilities and create and improve routes that will enable and encourage more people in Wales to walk, wheel and cycle”.

“These projects are prime examples of the practical solutions we have asked local authorities to design in order to make it easier for residents to connect with their places of employment and businesses, and to do so more sustainably,” he added.

Natasha Asghar, Shadow Transport Minister, said the investment was “still less than what Labour are spending on 36 more politicians in Cardiff Bay. We might have a new First Minister in place, but it’s clear it’s the same old Labour with ministers pushing ahead with the wrong transport priorities.”

She added Labour “cannot get the basics right on transport” and that her party would scrap 20mph speed limits, undo plans for more politicians and “deliver a strong transport infrastructure so desperately needed to get Wales moving and boost the Welsh economy”.