Two traffic signs at the edge of St Ilid’s Meadow, a housing development in Llanharan in south Wales, inform drivers that the national speed limit has been imposed. Just beyond the gate, the road abruptly ends at scrubland that has grown over an old opencast mine.
This dead end is just one of many around the town which testify how developers planned to connect these roads with a new high speed bypass in order to build 1,850 new homes. Locals were in favor of the project, as they believed the new arterial system would ease pressure on the narrow, Victorian-style high street which runs through the town 15 miles west from Cardiff.
On February 14, this year, the Llanharan Bypass was one of 31 road building projects in Wales that were cancelled . The Labour administration stated that it was not appropriate to approve any new roads which would allow for increased speeds or provide more capacity for private vehicle journeys, in light of its decarbonisation goals.
The Welsh branch of the Friends of the Earth campaign group, which is a leading environmental organization, has described the decision, in which only 17 projects were approved, as being “world-leading”.
Some Welsh communities have been outraged by the controversial decision. They lost new roads that they say are necessary to solve their acute transportation problems. Neil Feist is a Liberal Democrat from the Llanharan community council. He expressed what was felt by many. He said, “The entire thing has reached a tipping-point.” “All of these new commuter homes will still be built, but there won’t be a bypass.”
Lee Waters, Wales’s deputy climate-change minister and transport policy expert, spoke at the Welsh Government offices in Cardiff. He said that there was no going back. He said, “I am more concerned about climate change than I am about winning my seat.” “The threat is existential in its nature and severity.”
He stressed the importance of taking drastic measures. He said that the greenhouse gas emissions of transport in Wales decreased by only 6.3% between 1990 and 2019. This was the last year prior to coronavirus disruption.
Waters stated, “Unless someone pulls the handbrake here, we won’t be able to match our words with our actions.” Waters said that there is “huge cognitive conflict” in Wales about the country’s goal of reaching annual net zero emissions by 2035. “Everyone signed up for the high-level targets,” Waters said. “As soon as we shift from the general to the particular, people run a mile. People concurrently want us to get to net zero by 2035 but they want us to continue building rural bypasses.”
This bold experiment will need to answer two key questions: if it is the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions in transport, and if its economic cost is worth it.
The 31 projects were cancelled on the basis that increasing road capacity would only encourage more car trips. Some studies have shown that certain projects resulted in congestion levels similar to those that led to the expansion.
Waters stated that Scotland and Northern Ireland, the UK’s devolved governments, were closely watching the initiative. She also said that Sweden and Spain had shown interest in the initiative. In late June, the Climate Change Committee The independent advisor to the UK government, recommended that the Westminster administration review its road-building program for England.
The UK government stated that the increasing use of electric vehicles put it “on a path to net zero”, despite plans to continue building roads. The UK government said that its road investment strategy was designed to include all vehicles, including greener cars and buses, vans, and [heavy-goods vehicles].
Waters also pointed out that CCC said a shift to electric vehicles is a “necessary, but not sufficient” move towards net zero. Waters’ policies are designed to encourage more cycling, walking, and public transportation. The committee says that this can reduce emissions faster and cheaper.
The UK Climate Change Committee is clear. . . Waters stated that although we need to decarbonise cars, it won’t be enough to meet the high and ambitious targets that we have.
Natasha Asghar is the shadow transport minister for the Conservatives in the Welsh Assembly. She called the Labour government’s policies on roads, including a 20mph default speed limit in cities, “ludicrous”, and added: “We do not have a strong enough economy to make such radical changes.” Stephen Glaister, emeritus professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College, was also critical of the approach in Wales, dubbing it a “back-to-front policy”. He added: “To try to reduce traffic by not providing the capacity is likely to be counter-productive . . . You’re likely to produce congestion.”
Waters acknowledged that the communities who had suffered were upset. Locals in Llanbedr on the Welsh coastline, further north, blocked the road in protest of the cancellation earlier this year of a bypass.
Waters stated that the “biggest challenge” is to provide alternatives to driving cars quickly enough to assure residents. “Managing that is challenging because money is tight and these things can take a very long time.”
Feist stated that this was a problem in Llanharan, as there were few provisions to encourage walking and cycling. The train service is also “erratic”.
David Evans, Llanharan’s representative on Rhondda Cynon Taff Council and a political independant, said that the only solution was to revive the bypass proposals, or else condemn the town for years of traffic congestion and air pollution. He said that the bypass was something needed. It’s as simple as this.
Huw Irranca Davies, Labour’s member of the Welsh Parliament for the Llanharan region, believes that a compromise is possible. He cited the recent commitment made by the Welsh government to Llanbedr residents to look at a relief route that would run at a much slower speed than a conventional bypass.
Irranca Davies said: “We have an opportunity to build a beautiful, pleasant and desirable community in Llanharan, not just roads.”