Llandeilo bypass on hold again
ABYPASS around a Welsh town which has been beset by problems and delays for years has been put on hold again – meaning that work will not start until at least 2025.
In 2016, Plaid Cymru secured a £50m commitment from the Welsh Government to speed up the construction of a bypass in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire.
The idea had been mooted for years, decades even, following complaints about air quality due to vehicles, including large lorries, being forced to travel on a narrow section of the A483 which runs through the town centre.
More than a decade ago the Welsh Assembly gave a date of 2010 for when work would get under way on the new road, which would bypass the centre of town and allow vehicles to avoid its narrow streets.
When that date came and went, work was next expected to start in 2014, but that was put back due to funding cuts in 2012, something that led one councillor to say that finances were being put before the health of the local population.
Then a commitment to begin work in 2019 was delayed until the autumn of 2022, something described at the time as a “kick in the teeth” by local AM – and now Plaid Cymru leader and MS – Adam Price.
In the latest blow to the plans, a decision has now been taken to put construction back a further three years – until 2025.
“This is yet another broken promise and the Welsh Government has completely undermined the agreement it entered into with Plaid Cymru in 2016,” said Mr Price.
“To face another delay on this project is completely unacceptable – particularly as air pollution levels are higher than the national standards and the problem will only be getting worse.
“We now face the farcical situation whereby this complacent government are making empty promises for a time in the future when they may not even be in power.
“It has further exposed a culture of
There have been calls for a bypass in Llandeilo for decades dither and delay within the Welsh Government, which we would be committed to changing as a priority after the 2021 election.”
Hazel Evans, Carmarthenshire council’s executive board member for highways and transport services, said that yet another delay was an example of west Wales being cast aside as an “afterthought” by those in power in Cardiff Bay.
“This frustrating update is the latest in a spate of disappointments for a community that was promised £50m in investment to solve a longstanding issue,” said Mrs Evans.
“This delay is another example of Carmarthenshire being treated as an afterthought, and it is becoming increasingly clear that this government is not listening to the needs of communities in west Wales.”
The Welsh Government has responded by insisting that it remains committed to ensuring the bypass does get built
A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: “We are carefully following detailed appraisal processes, as well as ensuring the feedback from stakeholders and local voices is taken into account.
“This is in the context of restrictions in place from coronavirus which are affecting the way we can work.”