The new M4 has been given the green light from the goverment, it was reported on the bbc radio news this morning

It was said that the new M4 motorway would be paid by the goverment, they were in talks to see what money they will get back from wales, it was suggested that the new M4 motorway will be a toil road

It was also suggested that the £1billion cost of the motorway would help wales in terms of jobs and capital

Sounds great news to me, roll it forward

here is a link to the BBC article

George Osborne is finally starting to acknowledge his utter failure and resorting to some overdue Keynesian stimulus spending.

Too late for his political career though.

Good for Wales though I suppose, though I have a nasty suspicion a toll road will become a gigantic white elephant.

Hopefully it won't be a toll road or at least by the time its open the tolls can be scrapped on the Severn bridge so there's no 'double-whammy'!

This is an exercise in doing what should have been done in the first place, building a motorway grade road to the south of Newport, not forcing piecemeal improvements to the Northern Newport Bypass!

Now get on with it before costs go up anymore!!

The article says that the 830m could be repaid by tolls. In other words this is one option.

I think the squeamishness about tolls is because they are so rare in the UK. In France toll roads are everywhere. It's expected that people who use them should have to pay for them. I don't see whats wrong with that in principle. I think driving should be seen as a privilege rather than a right. This is unlikely to happen though. Drivers are too selfish (and I include myself in that). They have an ingrained sense of entitlement. The way in which the proposed congestion charge for Manchester was hugely defeated (despite the carrot of huge infrastructure improvements) illustrates this.

Personally I'd rather pay a couple of quid on a toll road and get to where I want to go quicker than drive on the piece of shit that is the M4 north of Newport.

It would help if the bridge toll was removed or considerably cheaper of course.

Is there any way they could do this with a lower toll that runs over a longer period of time to recoup the money ? Lots of 1 pound charges versus fewer 5 pound charges might be the way to go.

I don't think I'd want to pay a toll for the convenience of saving roughly (I guess) 10 minutes on a journey (not unless I could claim it as expenses), particularly as most journeys via the relief road would also be using the Severn crossings.

I also would prefer to see the EDR prioritised over the M4 relief road.

Part of the problem with tolls is that the UK seems to have a lot of very old drivers who remember the road fund license (aka road tax) but have forgotten that it was abolished in 1937

Seriously though, if the charge was nominal (say 50p) then people would probably use the toll-road. Trouble is it's more likely to be £3-4 which means people won't use it.

A cheaper solution to the problem might be to build a flyovers over the roundabouts on the A48 SDR in Newport to improve traffic flow and then close several of the Newport junctions on the M4. This would hopefully discourage people living in Newport from using the M4 to get from one part of the city to another - something motorways were not designed for but is encouraged by the number of junctions in Newport (similar sized towns in England would have only 2 or if they were lucky 3 junctions).

one possibility, mentioned on bbc tv, is for the toll on the bridge to remain and fund the newport relief road. so it is kind of a toll road, but the toll is taken in a different place. sounds a funny one.

Not worried about tolls for the time being, just delighted that another massive, much needed infrastructure is going to happen! Next please, Cardiff Metro!

The Welsh Government has just issued a quite strongly worded statement opposing road tolls, so it looks like that option is off the agenda, thank goodness.

The SSC is paid off by 2017 and the bridges then revert to the Welsh Government. They could divert some of the tolls to pay for all or part of the new road without necessarily increasing them.

According to parliamentary records, the construction cost was £330 million excluding VAT. Seems incredibly cheap given the amount of engineering required to build such a large bridge, and the £300 million they talk about for an eastern bay link... cost inflation in construction must be very great indeed.

Is the route for this confirmed? Do we have a map?

I remember I saw this on a road atlas I bought years ago, I suspect the actual M4 relief road wont be that much different.

Prepare for years of planning enquiries....... and the save our "lesser spotted toad, wild thrush dog, crane billed mud flapper, pikey scrap dealer."

I wonder if they will make any junctions on this new section to the south side of Newport.

Newport could end up with more motorway junctions than most cities in th UK.

The environmentalists just object to everything - they seem to forget that this is just an area of reclaimed marshland (albeit reclaimed by the Romans) - there is nothing there worth saving.

I dont undertand how plans for "M4 relief road" can be progressed without full consideration of the impact on the already congested Eastern Ave and prospects for an Eastern Bay Link. We risk just shifting the problem further west?

Also, better rail links from Ebbw Vale to Newportwould alleviate congestion at J27/28, stations at Caerleon, Llanwern etc would also help encourage less local car use (which is the biggest issue impacting the M4 around Newport - too many local journeys).....

We need a coherant regional plan and a bigger role for PT?

Newport gets its own M25 style orbital motorway!

Tell you what would be really nice, if they completed the A4232 between the butetown tunnel and southern way as part of this project

AND

then dualled Lamby way and the coast road and joined this up with the new motorway where they would cross just outside of Newport.

With regard to the Welsh governments stance on tolls - If they do not put new tolls on it or use severn bridge tolls as has been suggested here - this might score political points but would probably kick any more infrastructure spending into the distant future. I would much prefer a toll on the road and have more money to spend on the completion of the A4232 and a Cardiff metro in my lifetime.


Furthermore - and while I am very happy to hear the plans for the road - how much are we spending on the magor/llanwern bypass thingy that will now no longer be needed? Isnt it typical of governments to procrastinate for years then give the go ahead to 2 schemes.

Why not toll all roads in Wales and be done with it. Put up a big sign over the Second Severn Crossing, "£4.00 per mile from this point!"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-23072239

Hoorah, though wish we weren't having yet another consultation!! Just get it built!!

On 26 June 2013, Edwina Hart AM CStJ MBE, Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, published the following written statement:

“Addressing the capacity and resilience issues on the M4 around Newport is the top transport challenge that we face in ensuring that Wales has an effective economic infrastructure which improves our competitiveness and access to jobs and services.

Following Cabinet discussions earlier this week, I am therefore pleased to announce the next steps in relation to the M4 corridor in south east Wales.

As a result of ongoing discussions with the UK Government there has been a significant change in the assessment of the affordability of a major enhancement of the M4.

Building on the extensive development and consultation work undertaken on M4 Corridor Enhancement Measures (CEM), we will be consulting formally over the summer with Natural Resources Wales in order to go out to public consultation this September with a finalised draft Plan and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Report.

If implemented, the draft plan would lead to a motorway being built south of Newport.”

Details of when the Public Consultation will begin will be released by Welsh Government in due course and will be published on the M4 CEM website at www.m4cem.com and on the Welsh Government website at www.wales.gov.uk/transport.

Please note that on both websites you can also find copies of the recently published:

• M4 CEM WelTAG Appraisal Report Stage 1 (Strategy Level); and
• M4 Corridor around Newport WelTAG Appraisal Report Stage 1 (Strategy Level).

Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact m4cem@arup.com.