THE big day is finally here, with first minister Mark Drakeford due to announce this afternoon whether the M4 relief road will get the go-ahead – and all signs are pointing to the scheme being binned.

Argus politics reporter Ian Craig explains why the long-awaited project is facing the axe:

Barring a dramatic turn of events, this afternoon Mark Drakeford will announce the M4 relief road has been scrapped.

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The writing’s been on the wall for some time, and today it seems we’ll finally see a somewhat anticlimactic end to a story years in the making.

But why has it come to this? The reasons are many.

Mr Drakeford himself was believed to be sceptical towards the plan even before he stepped into Carwyn Jones’ shoes - and many said his election as first minister signed the death warrant for the M4.

The Welsh Government’s recent declaration of a ‘climate emergency’ is also likely to have had a key role - others have already pointed out that, if this is going to have any meaning, a scheme involving concreting over the Gwent Levels is surely destined for the scrapheap.

Meanwhile, opposition to the project and its ballooning pricetag has increased - with an alarming number of Labour AMs coming out against the plan in recent months - and a petition calling it to be binned signed by more than 20,000 people. At this point finding someone wholeheartedly in favour of the scheme can prove a struggle.

There’s even one or two in the Conservative camp who privately don’t want it to go ahead - although publicly they’re all sticking by the party line of demanding it gets the go-ahead.

Ultimately, if Mr Drakeford was going to give it the green light he would have done so already and put the Welsh Government’s PR machine in overdrive about how our new first minister was getting Wales moving again or something along those lines.

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So the fact that this decision has been so long coming would suggest his office have been double and triple-checking every minute bit of detail to ensure the decision to scrap it - breaking a promise in Welsh Labour’s 2016 manifesto - is as definitive as possible.

The onus now is on the Welsh Government to tell us what they’re doing instead to deal with traffic on the M4.

A few new bus routes or an extra train or two won’t cut it - something significant is needed.

The decision will be announced in the Senedd at around 2.45pm.

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