07/11/2022
So they've just noticed........
Incidents on the have closed the road through more than 300 times so far in 2022, new figures have shown.
The M4 stretching from Junction 23A services and junction 28 Tredegar Park has been closed a total of 393 times between January and October this year, according to figures revealed following a Freedom of Information request.
The numbers show 310 incidents have partially or fully closed the M4 in Newport in just ten months including 128 incidents involving broken-down vehicles, 58 road traffic collisions and 124 other incidents such as debris on the road. Just 83 of the 393 closures have been scheduled due to roadworks being carried out.
338 of the closures were partial while 55 involved the road being fully closed in one direction. There were no instances which required the road to be fully closed in both directions.
Matthew Evans, leader of the Newport Conservatives, said the figures were "obscene".
"I think last week pretty much every day there were long delays or incidents," he said. "Whatever the Welsh Government say, there are coaches and buses that use the road as well. We had the rail strikes recently which didn't help but for a lot of people, it's simply a necessity to use their cars."
Mr Evans said his inbox was regularly full of people complaining about congestion levels on the road and referenced presenter Gabby's Logan's exasperated tweet last week after she was stuck in heavy traffic on the way to Cardiff.
"It really is bad for business," he said. "People are coming into Wales and are stuck in traffic jams for long amounts of time. It's hurting businesses, people going about their daily lives, the tourist industry, major businesses like Celtic Manor."
https://bit.ly/3FUxg7h
