Montgomeryshire AM Russell George says a response from the First Minister to the delays caused by roadworks on the Penarth Bends near Newtown have left him no nearer to the truth.
Mr George said that if such a problem had existed on a major trunk road in South Wales or in Cardiff it would have taken five days to fix and not five months.
Mr George asked Carwyn Jones AM why the work to repair the collapsed culvert under the A483 trunk road took nearly five months to repair – causing major problems and delays for motorists, businesses and residents.
But Mr Jones simply said the problem was “groundworks.”
“When I raised this issue of the culvert work with Ministers at the beginning of June, the response from the Business Minister was that the schedule of work had fallen behind due to a problem with the contractor,” said Mr George.
“When the Minister for Transport wrote to me back in February to tell me that these commissioned works were about to start and that they were a ‘priority’ for Welsh Government, I don’t believe neither she nor I expected what did actually take place.”
Mr George said he was pleased the majority of work had been completed at the Penarth Bends and the traffic lights had been removed. But he was concerned as to whether the Welsh Government had learned from the problems.
“This is a major trunk road and the delays caused by the collapsed culvert and subsequent roadworks is unacceptable. The Welsh Government we’re blaming the contractors at one stage but now seem to be directing attention at groundworks,” he said.
“We need answers to ensure this doesn’t happen again and transport in the area comes to a halt. We have enough problems to contend with in and around Newtown with traffic as it is.
“I’m convinced that if this had happened on trunk road in Cardiff or South Wales it would have been dealt with quickly and efficiently. So why should we be second class citizens in Mid Wales?”
