Welsh Ministers have told a local AM that road improvements on a section of the A483 near Newtown will be completed by the end of the June.
Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, took the opportunity during Plenary business, to highlight the level of frustration that local people have expressed regarding the recent traffic chaos that has dogged the stretch of the A483 at Penarth Corner, just outside of Newtown.
Mr George told the First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones AM, that the temporary road closure over the recent Bank Holiday weekend, caused ‘misery’ for local residents, businesses and tourists, at what was the start of the summer tourist season.
He also said that given there had been very little evidence that road improvements were actually taking place, he asked the Minister for Government Business, Lesley Griffiths AM, to bring forward an urgent update statement, so that AMs could have a full explanation as to what had gone wrong.
In response, Mrs Griffiths said that contractors hired to undertake the road improvements had ‘let down’ the Government but that plans were in place so that the road improvements would be completed by ‘the end of the month’.
Commenting, Mr George said:
"I’m sure local residents and businesses will be happy to see the back of the road chaos that has been frustrating people for weeks.
"It is of course a source of great regret that the contractors hired by Welsh Government have not been working at this location as they should have been and questions need to be answered.
"I will be expecting Ministers to provide a comprehensive explanation why this whole sorry state of affairs panned out the way it did, particularly why the temporary road intended as a short-term remedy was not adequately designed and the improvement work not sufficiently monitored.