The announcement that there will be lane closures on the old
Severn Bridge until the autumn should be a wake up call to the bridges long-term
future. The old Severn Bridge opened in 1966 and is nearly 50 years old - it
won't be around forever. At this moment in time I cannot envisage any
Westminster government or even a government in Cardiff Bay agreeing or funding
a replacement bridge. The closure of the old Severn Bridge will directly impact
on commuters and businesses in south east Monmouthshire, the Wye Valley, the
Forest of Dean and south west Gloucestershire who use the old bridge to travel
to and from work and to trade.
If there is not be another Severn Crossing to replace the
original Severn Crossing then we will be back to having only one Severn crossing.
Changes will then need to made to the existing M48 / M4 including an M48
junction for Caldicot and a direct feed into the eastbound M4 this side of the
current Second Severn crossing. This would replace the current arrangement
whereby current users of the M48 have to use the existing Magor M4 junction to
join the M4 eastbound to cross the second Severn Bridge and the same junction
to gain return access to the M48.
A possible solution to this potential transport bottleneck
may be the construction of a joint road and rail bridge across the Severn, near
Lydney. This bridge could provide a partial solution to the chronic traffic
congestion in Chepstow and also provide a much-needed shorter more direct rail
route to the east as well as dealing with as yet unaddressed problem of the
ageing Severn Tunnel. This solution is wholly in England it would provide
a more accessible route to Bristol and the M5/M4 to commuters and businesses
based in south east Wales - it would also in my opinion stand a much better
chance of being funded by an increasing Anglo-centric Westminster
parliament.
Westminster needs not just to come clean on both the future
of the Severn Bridge tolls, which are a tax on commuters, business and jobs. Plaid Cymru is committed to cutting the bridge tolls initially to £2 pounds. Westminster also needs to entirely open up about the medium to long-term future of the
old Severn Bridge and any replacement bridge. I have long stated that the
National Assembly should have control of the Severn Bridges, it should also be
directly involved in any discussions about the future of the old Severn Bridge
as well, as the record shows that successive Westminster governments have
consistently failed to protect our interests.
