Following my update on the Mid Wales Connection project, I thought it would be a good time to update you on another area which remains on the top of my in tray! – The Newtown and Mid Wales traffic problems!
We are all aware that Newtown has experienced serious traffic problems years but the situation has deteriorated considerably since the Kerry Road roundabout was removed. Residents and businesses can see that the traffic system implemented by the Welsh Government far from resolving the problem is slowly choking our region, stagnating economic growth and ensuring that tourists avoid the area at all costs. You will all remember on 23rd March, a delegation of 50 people joined me to hand in a 10,000 strong petition to members of the National Assembly for Wales’ Petitions Committee, on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff, asking for a resolution to the town’s traffic problems.
We all know that the long-term solution to this problem is the Newtown Bypass. Since I became an Assembly Member at the start of May, rarely has a day gone by when I have not been stopped and asked about the Bypass, how the project was proceeding, when it was going to be started and more importantly, when it was going to be finished.
Trying to ascertain the facts and obtain clear answers from Government has not been easy. I have repeatedly asked questions of the Welsh Government regarding the Bypass and I have written to the new Transport Minister on several occasions, asking for more detail and a clear timeline of the project from now until the Bypass is completed. I have also pursued them on their previous commitment to give serious consideration to restoring the Kerry Road roundabout. It has now come to the point where I have had to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the Welsh Government, in order to release more documents about its plans to resolve the traffic problems.
I must tell you that the most recent information that I been given by the Minister, has certainly not filled me with confidence that the Government has truly got to grips with the issues at all. In a letter dated the 11th August, three key things were made clear to me. Firstly, as technical advisors for the project will not be appointed until this autumn, the start date of 2013, which was previously indicted to my colleague Glyn Davies MP in March by the former Transport Minister, is becoming increasingly unachievable. Secondly, that the guaranteed commitment of capital funding from the Welsh Government to allow the construction to go ahead, is still in doubt. Finally and most extraordinary of all, is that the Government believes that the new traffic light management system which they installed 18 months ago, has improved traffic conditions in the town!
I found this admission, as will many of you, truly amazing. So much so that as part of this update letter, I am now asking for your help to push this campaign on again. We have seen that with the fight against pylons and the Mid Wales Connection Project, public pressure does yield results. Therefore, I am asking you to please send a letter to the new Transport Minister, Carl Sargeant AM, telling him that the traffic conditions have certainly not improved and asking him to act decisively to re-introduce the Kerry Road roundabout and to fast track the Newtown Bypass scheme, so that construction can start without delay.
Please do contact me (Russell.George@wales.gov.uk) if you would like the Ministers address. An example letter that you could use as a template is also available. Please feel free to personalise the letter with your own name and address, making any additional comments that you feel appropriate.
This is a critical time as the new Minister will be reviewing the National Transport Plan for Wales in the autumn. We need to show the Welsh Government that we are united and serious about wanting urgent action.
Posted by russellgeorge 
