Campaigners have criticised £11m UK Governement funding for a £19m road scheme in Wales as an attempt to undermine the devolved government’s review of road schemes in the country.
Work started this week on the scheme to create a dual carriageway along a 1.5km section of the A4119, which the Department for Transport (DfT) described as a vital link to the M4 and the Rhondda Valleys, but one that is currently over capacity and congested.
The DfT said the scheme is set to reduce average travel time between Ynys Maerdy and Coedely by over five minutes – a reduction of more than 60%.
A new route for pedestrians and cyclists will also be built along the west of the carriageway, from Coed-Ely Roundabout to Llantrisant Business Park, as well as a new bridge south of Coed-Eely roundabout.
Roads minister Baroness Vere said the Government’s £11.4 m contribution to the scheme from the UK-wide £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund ‘will future-proof connections to South Wales and the Rhondda Valleys for years to come’.
The DfT said the fund ‘empowers communities by putting money directly into the hands of councils’.
However, funding for a scheme in Wales has caused controversy as the Welsh Government had put a freeze on new roadbuilding schemes, subject to a review by an expert panel.
Paula Renzel, Welsh roads and climate campaigner at Transport Action Network Cymru, said: ‘This seems to be an attempt by the UK Government to undermine the Welsh Roads Review. Why else would it make a song and dance about a relatively small investment in a Welsh road? If the Department for Transport has so much faith in its promised outcomes why was it not happy for the road to be part of the Welsh Government review?'
Ms Renzel also criticised Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, saying that the scheme adds to its 'dangerous recent track record'.
‘Earlier this year they submitted plans for the Cynon Gateway North, a new road project which would cause significant environmental damage and has been halted by the Welsh Government because of these concerns,' she said.
In May the council announced that it had appointed Alun Griffiths to carry out the scheme
