TV and sports presenter Gabby Logan has asked the million dollar question: "When is the M4 near to Newport going to work?"
She tweeted her question in exasperation on Friday night after being held up on the M4 and taking 90 minutes to travel just 27 miles. She was on her way to Cardiff when she got caught in the traffic that caused serious tailbacks throughout the afternoon, in part caused by a crash on one of the slip roads at the Coldra junction.
Gabby tweeted: "I have been asking this question for about eight years…when is the M4 near to Newport going to work? Traffic backed up before the bridge today. 90 minutes to do 27 mile journey to Cardiff is mad."
Her post elicited many responses saying it was an almost everyday occurrence and that actually, 90 minutes isn't that bad. People have long been frustrated by the frequency of congestion on the M4 through Newport. Google maps showed congestion stretching 27 miles between Cardiff and Bristol on Friday evening.
Someone replied: "It took me FOUR hours to do a 1 hour 20 journey today from Bath - Cardiff. Worst journey to date & no accidents involved in that either." While another said: "It’s crazy, it happen[s] virtually daily, I would never open a business in South Wales, spending most of our time in a traffic jam, the solutions from the Welsh government is pure fantasy, just get on with the bypass!"
That particular stretch of the M4 is notoriously bad on a Friday afternoon as one sympathiser pointed out: "Almost every day, Gabby. Worse on a Friday but it’s always bad. Welsh Govt scrapped relief road plans and implemented 50mph zone instead as apparently that helps."
Read more: Welsh Government sets date for 50mph speed cameras on the M4 at Newport to start issuing fines
A relief road to alleviate some of the congestion was proposed back in 1991 but that idea was officially scrapped in June 2019 after years of political wrangling, delays, disagreements over cost and environmental concerns. But not before a total of £135.7m in public money was spent on trying to make it happen.
In 2021 the planning protection for the proposed route, which had been in place for 25 years to prevent other developments being built where the road could have been, was also removed. But the need to address traffic concerns in Newport has not gone away, and the road became a key issue in the last general election. It's not just Gabby who is fed up with sitting in traffic.
One offered their sympathy saying: "Every week Gabby, I drive back thinking [palm face emoji]. Such an absolute nightmare."
However some questioned why she didn't take the train instead, although rail services aren't wholly reliable this weekend. There was a planned rail worker strike between November 4 and 9 but this was called off at the last minute. Even so, the majority of railway services in Wales will remain suspended on Saturday, November 5, when Wales face New Zealand in Cardiff.
The South East Wales Transport Commission, which was appointed by the government to examine possible alternatives to ease congestion in the area, recommended in November 2020 that six new train stations be built between Cardiff and Newport.
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