Transformation h Welsh trunk road
Page 42
Page 43
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
MANY valuable road projects have been completed since the Welsh Office was set up but much remains to be done if Wales is to have the modern road system so vital for its future prosperity.
The White Paper on the Government's public expenditure plans envisages that in each year to 1981/82 about £80m "at 1977 survey prices" will be spent on the construction and improvement of Welsh roads, Of this, about 70 per cent is currently spent on trunk roads and motorways. Most of the trunk road expenditure will be on major projects, although many smaller but useful projects will also be carried out.
Trunk road schemes currently under preparation "and regarded as definite starters" amount in total to about £430m-worth at 1977 survey prices.
According to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales, Barry Jones, the trunk road system in Wales will be transformed within the next 10 years, with extra projects brought forward and the commissioning of feasibility studies of other schemes.
The statement, published in September and expanding on the hint contained in June's White Paper, reviews trunk road achievements during 1977/78 and discusses the future "During the last four years impressive progress has been made in equipping South Wales with the trunk road system so vital to its future prosperity." The M4 was shielded against cuts in public expenditure, with the result that 31 miles of new motorway were opened in 1977 — an unprecedented feat for the Principality.
Work is now in hand on two of the three remaining sections which will provide 80 miles of motorway from the English border to beyond Pontardulais.
The statement indicates that North Wales is not being forgotten and the problems on the North Wales coast road will be history by the mid-1980s.
The intention is to provide a dual carriageway from Chester to Bangor and to devote massive financial resources to the project so that it can be completed as soon as possible. Many other road impr ments are being planned b particular note are two, in Ebbw Vale and Wrexham ai The need to provide good ac to these areas has now I recognised.
Provision has been mad, a new dual-carriageway ween Raglan and Abergav( and work is programmed to in mid-1979. This will comi the modern road system ne( to give better communicE between the heads of the va and the areas to the east.
In the Wrexham area, intention is to complete by mid-1980s a dual-carriage from Chester to Chirk, at a rent cost of E43m.
A detailed study of tr requirements is currentl and in north-east Clwyd. This is ) determine the best way of nproving the highway network nd the links to the English lotorway system in order to leet the more long-term needs F traffic and improve the prosects and long-term future of idustrial Deeside.
The Queens Ferry flyover Theme is now under construcon and will have a dramatic ffect of unlocking the gateway ) North Wales.
The statement also indicates )at many road improvement themes of varying size a-re Fanned but in order to maintain
D me momentum to the proramme, the Secretary of State as decided to add extra .'...hemes to the preparation pool ad to put in hand more route ad feasibility studies.
A measure of the Welsh Duncirs concern to keep minor fral roads in good repair is that )ey have commissioned a study f these roads from St David's Iniversity College, Lampeter: The project will look at the roblems caused to minor roads rural areas by adverse
leather conditions and hanging traffic and will study ow different kinds of rural land se generate different kinds Of -affic, particularly as new tech°logy is introduced. This traffic nalysis will be set in the wider ontext of the rural economy. he Welsh Office will be admin;tering the study for the Welsh :ouncil.
One of the key factors to the uture prosperity of Wales is 'mad road communication — iarticularly for industry where ease of access to raw materials and markets is essential. The excellent access provided by the M4 to the Midlands and South of England was one of the key factors in ensuring that the Ford engine plant went to Bridgend rather than elsewhere in Europe. But equally important, better roads improve the competitiveness of Welsh firms. These are some of the reasons why road improvements are being given a high priority.