Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 27 November 2018.
Thank you, leader of the house. Newport's road network is undeniably under strain. Any incident or heavy congestion on the M4 has a significant effect, not just on the main artery for Wales, but a severe knock-on effect on local roads. It also causes traffic that's passing through the city on the M4, like heavy goods vehicles and others, to spill out onto Newport's roads. Next week, the Severn bridge tolls will finally be lifted. Without any mitigation, this will put an additional pressure on the bottleneck at the Brynglas tunnels. Already poor air quality due to idling traffic will only get worse. With bus companies finding it hard to cope during heavy congestion and current disruption on trains, local people have very few alternatives. What preparation is being made to help alleviate congestion on an already struggling road network following the abolishment of the tolls?