Written question WQ91138
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Climate Change
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 8 days
Question
What plans does the Minister have to alleviate heavy traffic in rural areas where road building does not meet the criteria set out by the road building review, and public transport links are limited?
Answer
Answered by Deputy Minister for Climate Change
Our response to the Roads Review sets out that the Welsh Government will continue to consider road investment in roads (both new and existing) in the following circumstances:
To support modal shift and reduce carbon emissions. To improve safety through small-scale changes. To adapt to the impacts of climate change. To provide access and connectivity to jobs and centres of economic activity in a way that supports modal shift. In developing schemes, the focus should be on minimising carbon emissions, not increasing road capacity, not increasing emissions through higher vehicle speeds and not adversely affecting ecologically valuable sites.
These tests do not specify aspects of the design of new roads as these will depend upon the individual circumstances of the scheme.
We have published updated Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG) which provides guidance on how new projects should be assessed. WelTAG sets a framework for considering options to address transport issues such as heavy traffic.
The Roads Review has ‘raised the bar’ for the new roads we will build in Wales. The Welsh Government’s plans for investing in new and existing roads are set out in the National Transport Delivery Plan. The set of measures developed to assess progress against the Wales Transport Strategy are set out in the Wales Transport Strategy monitoring framework.