The Welsh Government has announced that future roads projects must reduce carbon emissions and support a shift towards active travel and public transport – and improve safety through ‘small-scale change’.
On 14 February, Lee Waters, deputy climate change minister, set out the findings of several key documents that will ‘shape the future of road building in Wales’.
Within those was the Roads Review Panel report, which says that going forward, the Welsh Government will only consider future road investment for projects that:
- Reduce carbon emissions and support a shift to public transport, walking and cycling
- improve safety through small-scale change
- help the Welsh Government adapt to the impacts of climate change
- provide connections to jobs and areas of economic activity in a way that maximises the use of public transport, walking and cycling
The report also says that in developing schemes, the focus should be on minimising carbon emissions, not increasing road capacity, not increasing emissions through higher vehicle speeds and not adversely affecting ecologically valuable sites.
Lee Waters, deputy climate change minister, said: “Let me be very clear at the outset, we will still invest in roads. In fact, we are building new roads as I speak – but we are raising the bar for where new roads are the right response to transport problems.
“Our approach for the last 70 years is not working.
“As the review points out the by-pass that was demanded to relieve congestion often ends up leading to extra traffic, which in time brings further demands for extra lanes, wider junctions and more roads.
“Round and round we go, emitting more and more carbon as we do it and we will not get to Net Zero unless we stop doing the same thing over and over.”
Review “the most significant change” in UK roads building policy in two decades
The roads review was announced in June 2021. An independent panel was then created and tasked with reviewing 50 projects considered part of the review.
The panel, led by transport consultant Dr Lynn Sloman MBE, presented its findings to the Welsh Government in September 2022. These have now been made public.
Cycling UK is among the stakeholders to welcome the announcement.
Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK head of campaigns, said: “The Welsh Government’s roads review marks the most significant change in UK roads building policy over the last 20 years.
“The proposals are bold in principle and forward looking as they realise the economic benefit of placing people and the environment at the heart of transport policy.
“This is a marked shift from other UK administrations’ simplistic and outdated views of building more roads as the answer to all transport woes from congestion to poor air quality.”
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