A bypass project in rural Snowdonia has become the first casualty of the Welsh Government’s roads review, which is being carried out to assess whether plans to increase highway capacity can be justified in light of the climate emergency.
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Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters announced on Monday that the Welsh Government will not support any further work on the Llanbedr Access Road scheme promoted by Gwynedd Council.
Roads review chair Lynn Sloman was asked to ‘fast track’ recommendations on the project – a proposed 1.5km north-south bypass to the west of Llanbedr – due to it being at an advanced stage of preparation. The scheme’s aims were to reduce traffic through the village and support development of the nearby Llanbedr Airfield.
“The chair’s report concludes that the proposed scheme does not align well with new Welsh Government transport and climate policy, and advises that it is not taken forward,” Lee Waters wrote in a statement. “I have accepted the chair’s recommendations.”
In her report, Dr Sloman concluded that the £15M project would likely result in increased carbon emissions due to induced traffic, higher speeds and embodied carbon. She added that there had not been a thorough investigation of options to achieve the scheme’s aims without increasing road capacity.
The Welsh Government’s decision to scrap the upgrade has sparked fury from Gwynedd Council, whose leader Dyfrig Siencyn of Plaid Cymru said the report “shows a complete lack of understanding of a rural situation in terms of road usage or the desperate need for jobs of high quality in one of the areas with the lowest household incomes”.
He added: “It is clear that once again rural areas can be sacrificed on the alter of climate change where the real problem and the answers lie in our urban areas.”
A further conclusion of the review was that the council and Welsh Government should discuss an alternative package of measures to reduce the negative impact of traffic in Llanbedr while also encouraging modal shift and reducing emissions.
Lee Waters said he is committed to providing funding for this and added: “I have asked my officials to work with Gwynedd Council to commission Transport for Wales to develop an alternative package for consideration.”
(Image: Welsh Government)
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