Press Watch: Major Welsh road schemes are cancelled
Date submitted: 16 July 2009
Two multi-million pound road projects for south Wales have been scrapped because of their costs. Unveiling a five-year transport plan, Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said the bill for a proposed M4 relief road around Newport had risen to 1bn pounds from its 340m pound estimate in 1998.
As part of the compensation measures to deal with increasing congestion, the Welsh Assembly Government has announced a programme of personalised travel planning across south Wales to help achieve sustained change in people's travel behaviour.
The news was welcomed by Friends of the Earth Cymru and sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
As part of the compensation measures to deal with increasing congestion, the Welsh Assembly Government has announced a programme of personalised travel planning across south Wales to help achieve sustained change in people's travel behaviour.
The news was welcomed by Friends of the Earth Cymru and sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
The decision to cancel the new M4 relief road and Cardiff Airport access road has been welcomed by sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
The announcement was made as part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s new National Transport Plan today [15/07/09].
Lee Waters, Director of Sustrans Cymru, said: ‘Massive road building schemes increase our car dependence and add to carbon emissions. The Welsh Assembly Government deserves praise for having the courage to say that road building is not the answer to our problems.
‘We need only to look at other countries which have built more and bigger roads in the past, only to see them fill up again, to know that this is not a sustainable approach.’
As part of the compensation measures announced to deal with increasing congestion, the Welsh Assembly Government has announced a programme of personalised travel planning across south Wales to help achieve sustained change in people’s travel behaviour.
Personalised travel planning works by delivering tailored travel advice directly to households, which encourages people to make changes to the way they travel, when and where it suits them best.
Lee continued; ‘We know from this approach being used elsewhere that targeted information about alternative travel options encourages people to cut their car use.’
Sustrans, in partnership with Socialdata, has delivered personalised travel planning to hundreds of thousands of households over the last eight years, recently in two of
the UK’s three sustainable travel demonstrations towns – Peterborough and Worcester.
The results show a reduction in car use of around ten per cent across the areas where the programme has been delivered, with people taking more active, lowcarbon forms of transport instead.
Lee continued: ‘The National Transport Plan makes some important steps to putting Wales on the path to a sustainable transport system. But the Welsh Assembly Government is still spending half of its transport budget on roads. No matter how good their intentions, with scarce resources tied up in schemes which increase carbon emissions and encourage inactive lifestyles, good intentions are not enough.
The announcement was made as part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s new National Transport Plan today [15/07/09].
Lee Waters, Director of Sustrans Cymru, said: ‘Massive road building schemes increase our car dependence and add to carbon emissions. The Welsh Assembly Government deserves praise for having the courage to say that road building is not the answer to our problems.
‘We need only to look at other countries which have built more and bigger roads in the past, only to see them fill up again, to know that this is not a sustainable approach.’
As part of the compensation measures announced to deal with increasing congestion, the Welsh Assembly Government has announced a programme of personalised travel planning across south Wales to help achieve sustained change in people’s travel behaviour.
Personalised travel planning works by delivering tailored travel advice directly to households, which encourages people to make changes to the way they travel, when and where it suits them best.
Lee continued; ‘We know from this approach being used elsewhere that targeted information about alternative travel options encourages people to cut their car use.’
Sustrans, in partnership with Socialdata, has delivered personalised travel planning to hundreds of thousands of households over the last eight years, recently in two of
the UK’s three sustainable travel demonstrations towns – Peterborough and Worcester.
The results show a reduction in car use of around ten per cent across the areas where the programme has been delivered, with people taking more active, lowcarbon forms of transport instead.
Lee continued: ‘The National Transport Plan makes some important steps to putting Wales on the path to a sustainable transport system. But the Welsh Assembly Government is still spending half of its transport budget on roads. No matter how good their intentions, with scarce resources tied up in schemes which increase carbon emissions and encourage inactive lifestyles, good intentions are not enough.
More Information: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8152406.stm
