Star comment: Bypass will transform many lives
It’s been on the anvil for decades. The Newtown bypass has been on the drawing board for many years to alleviate chronic congestion that chokes streets in the Mid Wales town.
And now there is tangible progress on the £60 million plan to move through traffic out of the town and onto a new, faster, hinterland road.
Work on the project is progressing well and the scale of this project is huge, as pictures in today’s Shropshire Star show.
Teams of contractors have been on site for a year and a half, and residents and businesses are understandably excited about progress.
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The road will transform the lives of motorists both in Mid Wales and the wider area, particularly during the busy summer months when thousands of holiday makers from across Shropshire and the West Midlands travel that way to the coast.
It has been unreasonable and unfair to expect residents to bear the burden of such volumes year-in, year-out.
As car ownership levels increase, so the problem becomes worse and worse.
And there has also been a negative effect on business. Adding an extra 15 or 30 minutes to journeys on a daily basis has a punitive cost that has lowered profitability for firms.
Lest we forget, a decade has already passed since the town was entirely gridlocked and the Welsh Assembly agreed to look at an upgrade.
Though it has taken too long, most in the area are glad they can finally start to count down the days until it opens. We ought to remember those who campaigned so vigorously for the road.
Great political effort was put into the fight to bring about improvements and those who worked on the idea deserve gratitude and remembrance.
Our region has a slew of major road projects that require urgent attention. Across Shropshire and Mid Wales, there are through routes that require upgrades, roads that need traffic calming measures and as-yet-unbuilt relief roads that will help locals considerably.
These are exciting times for Newtown.
Congestion has plagued the lives of locals for a great many years and there will be great relief when the new road is open.
So, as well as being a potential boost to the economy through its improved road network, the road is also a beacon of hope – for the campaign dual to the A5 and for the A483 Pant/Llanymynech bypass campaign – that these projects can actually happen.
