It was way back in 1994 when the then Secretary of State for Wales, John Redwood, announced that the A465 would be transformed into a dual carriageway. He also announced that the road would be one of three major arteries serving Wales, along with the M4 and A55. Please make no mistake, the duelling of the A465 has been a great engineering project and will make travelling along that section much safer than the old three-lane accident-prone road it replaced. The only bad point is the speed restriction of the 50 MPH Clydach Gorge section, which slows down the traffic, this section could be a 60 MPH national speed limit, there are many minor roads that you can travel on at 60 MPH that are much more dangerous than the Clydach Gorge section.
As for the M4 bottleneck, that remains a mystery. There is just no logical explanation for why it is not improved, with Labour MSs sticking their heads in the sand and out of touch with improving traffic routes for businesses. So, what’s this Welsh Government Vido all about? Labour has gone, and their forward-thinking is stagnant, relying on academics to come up with mad solutions as if a 50 MPH will help traffic flows when an 8-year-old will tell you the problem in the lies with the 360-metre-long (390 yd) Brynglas Tunnels.
After 23 years of delays, spiralling costs, and disruption for residents, a road dubbed the A465 ‘the road to hell’ by a resident, is finally set to open later this year. While the completion of any infrastructure project is welcome, the protracted timeline and the Welsh Government’s decision to scrap the similarly costed M4 relief road—used by four times as many people—highlight a concerning lack of ambition in addressing Wales’ infrastructure needs.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure, Peter Fox MS said:
“This overbudget and well behind schedule project epitomises Labour’s 25 years of failure here in Wales.
“By scrapping many other vital infrastructure projects like the much-needed M4 relief road, the cost of which would have nearly been covered by the Heads of the Valleys price tag, the Welsh public will rightly question whether this gargantuan expense was worth it.
“The anti-motorist Welsh Labour Government needs a change in management. The Welsh Conservatives stand ready to fix Wales.”
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