The decision not to proceed with the M4 Relief Road was a momentous one. In June 2019 the First Minister Mark Drakeford disagreed with the £44 million public inquiry that the scheme represented value for money. He said he would set up a new “expert commission” to look at alternative solutions to solving traffic problems on the M4 around Newport.
The Burns Commission reported in November 2020 making 58 recommendations including –
- reconfiguring the South Wales Main Line to increase rail capacity and flexibility between Cardiff and the River Severn;
- a new rail station building programme to provide local, commuting services on the Main Line;
- new rapid bus corridors across Cardiff and Newport, connecting to the rail backbone;
- new commuter cycle corridors, connecting to the rail backbone and rapid bus corridors; and
- a fundamental redesign of the transport interchange in the centre of Newport.
A delivery unit was appointed in 2021 to deliver the recommendations.
To date it has reported on three occasions. It is envisaged its work will continue until 2030.
In the intervening period the issues with congestion and delays on the M4 around Newport remain. The road continues to serve two-thirds of the Welsh population and over two-thirds of Welsh gross domestic product. It is still subject to delays or closures on a regular basis with consequent knock on impacts to roads in the city area. Every Friday afternoon and most times there is a major sport or entertainment event it slows to a crawl.
During the same period there have been only small changes for Newport drivers and businesses. No new roads have been built but the opening of the A4810 Eastern Distributor link road has meant that some of the M4 overflow traffic finds ‘relief’ via Magor and Glan Llyn. In terms of public transport Newport Bus has done significant work to provide reliable and timely services particularly to the main retail park. But bus services are not frequent nor do they offer many off peak or Sunday services. The long awaited rail service linking Ebbw Vale and Newport has started but that predates this report. In addition, there is still no integration between bus services and trains in the city at the main railway station serving two million commuters per annum!
The situation therefore is largely unchanged with the same issues as they were in 2019 and long before.
With respect to the Burns recommendations there has been limited progress. True there have been numerous consultations, on the new railway stations, the A48 corridor between Newport and Cardiff and the city centre interchange but as yet no real progress on delivering the significant transport alternatives needed for the City of Newport. The only one of the five stations to be given the go ahead is the privately funded Cardiff Parkway near St Mellons. The rollout of tap in / out ticketing has been introduced but as part of the wider South Wales Metro. Some of the ideas have been rubbished such as bus rapid transit on the A48 when this is ideal for light rail. In addition, there have been small changes such as the introduction of secure bike storage in Newport but to most residents they would not notice or be aware of any planned improvements. They still see a city with clogged up roads, affected by M4 congestion with poor public transport and few cycle lanes.
There is a sense of resignation rather than impatience. Newport has frequently been overlooked when it comes to proper infrastructure investment. But the pace of change here is painfully slow with lots of creative design ideas and none of the proposed improvements delivered.
Hopefully the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and spending review will shed some light on the commitment to the new rail stations. Forget about the rest this is probably the only transformative proposal in the Burns package proposed, it will have next to zero impact on M4 traffic but could have genuine and lasting regeneration consequences for Somerton, Duffryn and Maesglas. Or will we still wait and…wait?
