MAJOR roadworks aimed at improving Junction 28 of the M4 at Tredegar Park have been put back by nine months.

The £10.5 million project, which will include work on the roundabouts at Pont Ebbw and Bassaleg, aims to relieve bottlenecks at rush hour.

In a statement to the Welsh Assembly three years ago, transport minister Edwina Hart said improvements at the junction - along with a link road scheme in Cardiff Bay - were vital to improving transport links in South Wales.

However, as a result of the ongoing roadworks on the Newport city council network, the project has been delayed until January 17, 2017.

Brian Greaves, senior community relations manager at Costain, said: “When there are a number of competing projects going on, it’s important they’re not clashing and not causing a level of disruption that can seriously disrupt the movements in Newport.

“As this is an important project, it would be better rescheduled a few months later so it’s not clashing another project in Newport.

“We are just making progress and will be ready to move when January comes along.”

When engineering firm Costain finish the work, the Tredegar Park roundabout is set to be a more elongated shape, making it easier for motorists to drive straight through.

According to the Construction Enquirer website, documents show the new junction will be made longer with a central link from the M4 eastbound to the A48.

It will involve the demolition of the current westbound slip road to the M4 bridge over the A48, the website reported.

Rogerstone councillor Chris Evans says traffic from J28 backs up as far as his ward, so the improvements are “essential”.

He said: “For residents in Rogerstone, concerns about congestion is one of the biggest things.

“We have to know why it’s being put back and why there’s this silence about it being put back.

“Chartist Drive [roundabout] will be done but the biggest part of the jigsaw puzzle isn’t going to be done.”

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government was contacted for a comment.