Brynglas M4 tunnels plan ‘badly thought out’ - Green leader (From South Wales Argus)

Brynglas M4 tunnels plan ‘badly thought out’ - Green leader

5:40pm Thursday 17th May 2012 in News By Ben Frampton

GREEN Party in Wales leader Pippa Bartolotti has dubbed proposals for extra tunnels at Brynglas to tackle congestion on the M4 in Newport as ‘a badly thought out scheme’.

Ms Bartolotti, who lives in Malpas, accused the Welsh Government of: “As usual, always looking to spend huge amounts of money on a badly thought out scheme.”

The Assembly is consulting on four alternatives to combat the problem of traffic between junctions 24 and 29, one of which would involving drilling a third tunnel at Brynglas as part of widening the carriageway to four lanes in each direction at a cost of £550 million.

Ms Bartolotti claims the motorway is only congested at peak times and said it made no sense to spend millions on a road which only needs different travelling options for two or three hours a day.

She said the Welsh government should be looking at alternatives such as compulsory school buses and better public transport.

She said: “It would be better to spend the money on a network of charging points for electric cars and clear our air of harmful pollution. It would be better still to overhaul our public transport infrastructure and develop a truly sustainable transport system which goes to where people need to be, costs little and runs often.”

Two of the four proposals involve improvements to the Southern Distributor Road and the other is building a new dual carriageway to the south of Newport, for £830 million.

The Welsh government is consulting until July 6 – see wales.gov.uk/consultations