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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| M4 relief road: Chancellor 'to approve toll plan' | M4 relief road: Chancellor 'to approve toll plan' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| An M4 relief road in south Wales could get the backing of the Treasury as a toll road, according to press reports. | An M4 relief road in south Wales could get the backing of the Treasury as a toll road, according to press reports. |
| Both The Times and Independent report that the Chancellor will announce plans to support a new toll motorway in June's comprehensive spending review. | Both The Times and Independent report that the Chancellor will announce plans to support a new toll motorway in June's comprehensive spending review. |
| If approved, it would be the UK's second toll motorway after the 27-mile (43km) M6 Toll which opened in 2003. | |
| In 2009, the Welsh government dropped plans for an M4 relief road around Newport after the cost rose to £1bn. | |
| Talks are continuing between the UK and Welsh governments about ways to fund improvements to the M4 in south Wales. | Talks are continuing between the UK and Welsh governments about ways to fund improvements to the M4 in south Wales. |
| Neither has commented directly on the latest press reports, but the Welsh government pointed to a statement last month that it was "following due process" on the issue of easing the congestion on the M4 around Newport. | Neither has commented directly on the latest press reports, but the Welsh government pointed to a statement last month that it was "following due process" on the issue of easing the congestion on the M4 around Newport. |
| Crashes | Crashes |
| Both newspapers report that funding for a relief motorway will be guaranteed by the Treasury to allow the Welsh government to build the road and then to repay the loan at least in part by raising tolls. | Both newspapers report that funding for a relief motorway will be guaranteed by the Treasury to allow the Welsh government to build the road and then to repay the loan at least in part by raising tolls. |
| Employers' group the CBI has called a relief road to ease congestion on the M4 near Newport a "clear priority". | Employers' group the CBI has called a relief road to ease congestion on the M4 near Newport a "clear priority". |
| Business leaders say traffic jams, particularly after crashes which close the motorway, are bad for the economy of south Wales. | Business leaders say traffic jams, particularly after crashes which close the motorway, are bad for the economy of south Wales. |
| Plans for a 14-mile road to ease congestion on the M4 around Newport, between junctions 23 and 29, were announced in 2004. | Plans for a 14-mile road to ease congestion on the M4 around Newport, between junctions 23 and 29, were announced in 2004. |
| The scheme was estimated to cost at least £350m and was due to open in 2013, with the possibility that it would be partly financed by tolls. | The scheme was estimated to cost at least £350m and was due to open in 2013, with the possibility that it would be partly financed by tolls. |
| When the scheme was scrapped in 2009, its likely cost had risen to £1bn. | When the scheme was scrapped in 2009, its likely cost had risen to £1bn. |
| Ieuan Wyn Jones, then deputy first minister and transport minister, said at the time that putting tolls on the "unaffordable" proposed new road would have reduced its economic effectiveness. | Ieuan Wyn Jones, then deputy first minister and transport minister, said at the time that putting tolls on the "unaffordable" proposed new road would have reduced its economic effectiveness. |
| 'Better ways' | |
| Journalist Mickey Clarke of the Financial Times told BBC Radio Wales: "It's worth pointing out though that the M6 Toll in the Midlands - a similar project there - hasn't ever made any money. People won't pay it. That's the trouble." | |
| Nick Payne, of the Road Haulage Association, welcomed the idea of the proposed new motorway going ahead but was against the prospects of tolls. | |
| He said: "The M6 Toll road hasn't been massively successful as far as the transport industry is concerned. I don't know whether or not the haulage industry in Wales can afford to be paying yet another toll after paying so much money to get across the bridge every day." | |
| Matt Hemsley, of the transport charity Sustrans, said there were better ways to improve the Welsh economy, such as spending more on grants for bus services. | |
| "When we're talking about what's going to make the biggest difference, it's going to be interventions like that rather than interventions like this new road," he said. | |
| Proposals for an M4 relief road have also faced criticism by environment campaigners who fear damage to the Gwent Levels Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). | |
| In February 2012 the Welsh government announced plans to turn an old access road through Llanwern steelworks into a £13m dual carriageway to link south Newport with the M4, claiming it would help relieve congestion. | In February 2012 the Welsh government announced plans to turn an old access road through Llanwern steelworks into a £13m dual carriageway to link south Newport with the M4, claiming it would help relieve congestion. |