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Petition Number: P-06-1360 Petition title: Build a simple slip-road between the M48 westbound and M4 eastbound at Rogiet Text of petition: Every time the Severn Bridge (M48 Crossing) is closed to traffic, the area including Chepstow, Caldicot, Magor with Undy and Newport East grind to a literal halt. This is, in broad terms, because the Chepstow traffic heading for England has to either circle around the minor roads past Caldicot and through Magor, or head directly down the M48 to M4 J23, turning around the roundabout en masse and preventing Newport and Magor traffic flowing out onto J23. This situation must, and can be, ended. On 13/03/2023 at 07:25 I left my address in Undy, heading to work in Portishead. Having left Manor Chase onto the B4245 I almost immediately joined a traffic queue, and the result was that the normal journey of around four/five minutes to reach the M4 J23 eastbound entry slip road took exactly two and a half hours. I had to persist as I was enrolled on a mandatory training course that required physical attendance. This story is not rare; hundreds, if not thousands of people go through very similar ones every time the Severn Bridge is closed to traffic. The entirety of this corner of Wales has to suffer this 'off-switch' and the issue could so easily be alleviated by a simple and comparatively inexpensive slip road between the M48 westbound and the M4 eastbound between Rogiet and Undy. The land is currently only a field, the topography is favourable and a slip road would wholly prevent the effective blocking-off of the J23 roundabout by Chepstow traffic, leaving the switch 'on'. |
The M48 and M4 meet at the Rogiet interchange – junction 23 of the M4 – adjacent to Magor.
Both the M4 and M48 Severn bridges are the responsibility of National Highways, the UK Government agency responsible for the management, maintenance and improvement of the English strategic road network (SRN).
National Highways indicates that the M48 bridge is closing more frequently both as a result of maintenance work, and to improve safety for traffic officers.
The Welsh Government is the highway authority for the M4 and M48 in Wales, including the Rogiet interchange.
Following the report of the Roads Review Panel, published in February, the Welsh Government set out its response in a new Roads Policy Statement, along with a new National Transport Delivery Plan (NTDP).
The policy statement sets out the circumstances where the Welsh Government will invest in roads, stating it will do so to:
§ support modal shift and reduce carbon emissions;
§ improve safety through small-scale changes;
§ adapt to the impacts of climate change; and
§ provide access and connectivity to jobs and centres of economic activity in a way that supports modal shift.
Transport for Wales is supporting a Burns Delivery Unit, to oversee implementation of the 58 recommendations of the South East Wales Transport Commission. The work aims to provide alternatives to journeys on the M4 and encourage the use of public transport and active travel in the region, relieving congestion on the M4 in south east Wales.
The Deputy Minister for Climate Change’s letter to the Chair on this petition says:
There are currently no plans to introduce a slip road at this location, and it is unlikely that a scheme of this nature would meet the criteria for funding under our future road building tests set out in our response to the Roads Review.
The Deputy Minister also outlines the work underway to implement the South East Wales Transport Commission’s recommendations to relieve congestion on the M4.
While the Roads Review and South East Wales Transport Commission recommendations have been discussed extensively in the Senedd, the specific issue raised by the petition has not.
However, on 14 July 2021 Natasha Ashgar MS asked the Deputy Minister in Plenary if he would undertake development work for “a motorway junction on the M48 where the Severn tollbooths used to be, to relieve congestion on the M4.” The booths were situated between M4 junctions 23 and 24. This proposal was rejected by the Deputy Minister.
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