By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
A Forest Gateway bypass at Chepstow won’t be built “any time soon” as the scheme’s latest estimate tops £75 million so council chiefs aim to improve public transport in the meantime.
A new report on the proposed new road scheme which aims to alleviate congestion on the A48 suggests costs of such a scheme have increased from a £60m estimate in 2021.
And the Chepstow bypass project is not listed in the UK Government’s ten-year pipeline of investment projects, according to the report presented to Monmouthshire County Council last week.
It says that such a project would need support from both the UK and Welsh Governments and that increased housing targets allocated to Monmoutshire’s neighbouring English councils will create additional pressure on an already constrained road network.
However, Gloucestershire County Council leaders want to improve the situation despite the lack of funding for a new bypass and are pledging public transport improvements.
Liberal Democrat councillor Roger Whyborn (Benhall and Up Hatherley), who is responsible for sustainable transport at Shire Hall, said the assumption has always been that the costs for a major project such as the Chepstow bypass would have to be raised at a national level.
“Clearly there would be a proportion coming locally and that would be split between Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire,” he said.
“I’m sure there will be benefits for people in Gloucestershire, particularly the Forest of Dean, but people the other side would also benefit if they are trying to get out to the Midlands.”
He added that “nobody sees the bridge being built any time soon due to the costs involved”.
And so plans are afoot to improve the transport offer including expanding Gloucestershire’s on-demand, bookable minibus service the Robin service across the border to Chepstow.
“We are looking at doing a number of things both short term and long term,” he said.
“In the very immediate future one of our main aims would be to extend our Robin service across the bridge into Chepstow.
“We would also hope to do a bit more with the regular buses.
“It is an aspiration to improve cross-town buses in the Forest of Dean which includes going over the bridge into Chepstow.”
Conservative councillor Nick Evans, who represents Tidenham in the Forest of Dean near Chepstow, has been campaigning for a bypass for years.
He said it is “sad to see this report spell out the missed opportunities to work together and properly resolve Chepstow’s transport problems once and for all”.
“The report lays bare the complete lack of ambition from authorities on both sides of the River Wye to take a joined-up approach and provide what residents are crying out for.
“For years, my Conservative colleagues in Chepstow and I have been pressing to get a joint agreement that our congestion problem will only get worse and needs dramatic investment to solve it, rather than sticking plasters.
“This isn’t an argument against public transport improvements in favour of road building, my campaign has always been about the need for both.
“The longer both authorities kick the can down the road, the higher costs will get, and more chances to get agreement from Governments at both ends of the M4 will be missed.
“Significant development like this takes years of concentrated lobbying.
“Until we put an end to the buck-passing and get back to the consensus we had when the first two studies were funded, residents in Chepstow and beyond will continue to suffer.”