Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, said he was pleased with the honesty displayed by the Transport Minister after he admitted that initial Government interventions to solve Newtown traffic problems had not succeeded.
The comments were made by Mr Sargeant during a session of the National Assembly’s Petitions Committee, where he was called to give evidence about the way his department has dealt with the traffic problems in and around the town. Mr Sargeant admitted that early interventions had not proved successful but hoped that the recalibration of the traffic management system would address the problem but he could not be sure until the evidence from a traffic flow study had been analysed.
However, the Minister added that if the evidence from the study proved that flows had worsened, then he would be prepared to change direction and find an alternative model to solve the problem.
Commenting, Mr George said:
“I am pleased by the Minister’s candid honesty that Government interventions have not worked in Newtown when they were first introduced.
“However, I don’t believe he needs to wait for the results of a traffic flow survey to see that the situation has not improved – you only need to negotiate the roads on a daily basis to see that they have not.
“I think he needs to make a decision now to change direction and look at other traffic management models, like reintroducing the Kerry road roundabout”.
