Road-building projects stopped
THE Welsh Government is to stop all new road-building projects while its new climate change ministry conducts a wide-ranging review.
Transport now comes under the Welsh Government’s climate change ministry and it is putting a hold on all road-building projects that have not yet started while it examines whether the money should be spent in other ways.
Any projects where work has begun will continue, but the announcement being made this week by deputy climate change minister Lee Waters will stop projects like the Deeside “Red Route”, the Llandeilo bypass, and a third Anglesey crossing.
The Welsh Government announced in March it was refusing to fund the M4 to A48 link in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The £66m scheme was halted by then economy minister Ken Skates who said “the scheme is not in line with our grant criteria or the transport policy framework”.
The Welsh Government isn’t yet publishing details of the review but says it will consider “shifting spending” towards better maintaining existing roads, rather than building new ones, and look at all proposed road investments, whether funded directly by the Welsh Government or indirectly by grants.
When he announced his fiveyear plan for what he wants the government to achieve, First Minister Mark Drakeford said creating a new climate change department with minister Julie James at the helm was part of a plan to put “the environment at the heart of our decision-making.
“In my new government, the environment doesn’t just have a seat at the Cabinet table, it will be a consideration in all we do.”
Mr Waters made a statement to the Senedd on Tuesday unveiling his plans when he said: “Since 1990, Welsh emissions have fallen by 31%. But to reach our statutory target of Net Zero emissions by 2050, we need to do much more. In the next 10 years, we are going to need to more than double all the cuts we have managed over the last 30 years, if we are going keep temperature rises within safe limits. That means changes in all parts of our lives. Transport makes up some 17% of our total emissions and so must play its part.
“We need a shift away from spending money on projects that encourage more people to drive and spend more money on maintaining our roads and investing in real alternatives that give people a meaningful choice.”