Posted on by Thomas

“The Welsh government said all future roads…must not increase carbon emissions, they must not increase the number of cars on the road, they must not lead to higher speeds and higher emissions, and they must not negatively impact the environment.” All major road building projects in Wales are scrapped – BBC News

The recommendations from “The Future of Road Investment in Wales: Advice from the Independent Panel appointed by the Welsh Government”:

Purposes: We recommend that to be consistent with Welsh Government policy, road schemes should only be for these four purposes Shifting trips to sustainable transport to reduce carbon emissions Reducing casualties where they are high, through small-scale changes Adapting roads to the impacts of climate change Supporting prosperity by providing access to development sites that will achieve high sustainable transport mode share Conditions: We recommend that road schemes for these purposes should additionally meet four conditions The scheme should minimise carbon emissions in construction The scheme should not lead to higher vehicle speeds that increase emissions The scheme should not increase road capacity for cars The scheme should not adversely affect ecologically valuable sites

I am confident that if we applied the same (prudent, sensible and expert) analysis and recommendations from Wales to Ireland’s road building programme, all the roads projects in the National Development Plan as currently proposed would be cancelled.