The M4 relief road was a proposed motorway, south of the city of Newport, South Wales, intended to relieve traffic congestion on the M4 motorway.
Originally proposed by the Welsh Office in 1991,[15] it was not pursued by the ConservativeMajor Government. Following devolution in 1999 the project was again drawn up by Welsh Government economic and transport minister Andrew Davies in 2004[16] but this was withdrawn in 2009 when the cost estimates had risen by £660m, to a total of £1 billion.[16]
In April 2013, the Conservative-led coalition offered the Welsh Government a £830m interest-payable loan for the construction of the road.[17] In July 2014 Welsh Transport MinisterEdwina Hart stated that, despite political opposition, the scheme would go ahead.[18]
Demand for investment grew in 2017 following a manifesto pledge by Theresa May which removed the Severn road tolls. The increased road use led to vehicle use increasing of 20% over the M4 bridge and 7% of traffic at the tunnels, increasing the already considerable congestion in Newport.[19]
First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones (a supporter of the road) stepped down in 2018,[20] leaving the decision to his successor, Mark Drakeford. Drakeford was required to delay his decision due to the 2019 Newport West by-electionpurdah.[21]
On 4 June 2019 Drakeford announced that the scheme would not proceed on the basis of escalating costs now at £1.4bn.[22] 2018 estimates had however already shown that the £1.4bn figure would have been far higher once VAT costs and overspending was accounted for.[17] Drakeford further attributed the decision to the global climate crisis and local “environmental impacts” to the Gwent Levels.[22]
. . . M4 relief road . . .
A second South Wales motorway was first discussed in the late 1980s, sited to the south of Newport running 14 miles (23 km) parallel to the existing M4 motorway from junction 23A at Magor, to junction 29 at Castleton, thus avoiding the need to widen the Brynglas Tunnels.[23] The tunnels can no longer be expanded or relocated due to geological issues in the area, which has meant subsidence to a number of houses above the tunnels since construction took place.[24]
The concept behind the motorway was first based on the M6 Toll motorway, a relief road built to reduce traffic on the M6 motorway around Birmingham.[25]
The existing motorway runs through the Brynglas Tunnels north of Newport city centre.[25] Like many stretches of motorway, it does not conform to current motorway standards: it lacks continuous hard shoulders due to previous widening, has closely spaced junctions and narrows to a restricted two-lane section through the Brynglas Tunnels, where heavy congestion occurs at peak hours.
A variable speed limit is in place between junctions 24 and 28. M4 slip roads at Junction 25 (Caerleon Road) are diverted to reduce traffic through the tunnels. M4 Westbound traffic joining at Junction 25 is diverted via Junction 25A/A4042 (Heidenheim Drive)/A4051 (Malpas Road) to Junction 26. Similarly eastbound traffic wishing to exit at Junction 25 is diverted from Junction 26 via the A4051/A4042/Junction 25A. This adds to congestion on Malpas Road and other local roads near Newport city centre at peak times.
According to the Welsh Government, traffic data shows that the motorway is operating at nearly “double its vehicle capacity” at peak times.[19]
An M4 relief road between Magor and Castleton was first proposed by the Welsh Office in 1991, but there was little progress on the scheme in the following years.[26]
Plans for the New M4 were announced on 3 March 2006 as part of a raft of measures to improve road transport in Wales. The road would have cost between GB£350 million (later rising by £660m to an estimated £1 billion),[16] and financed by a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) with the Welsh Assembly.[27] It was planned to be the United Kingdom’s second full toll-paying motorway, after the M6 Toll.
Proposals in 2004 for the road to be tolled were met with scepticism. Several experts suggested that a new toll road would be “a white elephant for 20 hours a day”, due to the greatly variable traffic levels through the Brynglas Tunnels. Outside peak hours, the tunnels would still have been the preferable option to taking a toll road for most people.[25]Liberal Democrat spokesperson Jenny Randerson raised concerns about whether a toll would have been necessary on the road, as the Severn Bridge, less than 10 miles (16 km) to the east, also charges a toll to cross it and compared the plan to a “double tax on Wales”. The Road Haulage Association said that an additional toll was “almost rubbing salt into the wound”.[25]
On 15 July 2009, the Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones announced that the plans for the M4 relief were to be dropped and replaced by a package of measures to improve the flow of traffic.[28] In November 2009, Dr. Anthony Beresford of the Business School at Cardiff University called for the decision to cancel the road to be overturned.[29]
. . . M4 relief road . . .