Chepstow gridlocked by traffic delays on consecutive days

Commuters travelling in and out Chepstow faced long delays after strong winds closed the M48 first Severn Bridge from Thursday afternoon, until the early hours of Friday, March 13. As a result a planned overnight closure of the westbound M4 Prince of Wales had to be delayed until the M48 bridge had reopened. Drivers faced further misery with long delays, of up to an hour, on the M4[1] from junction 23A at Magor with traffic streetching back well into England during rush hour on Thursday afternoon.

It was the second day in a row severe congestion brought Chepstow to gridlock after a van or lorry broke down on the A48 bridge, over the Wye, near the Tesco superstore during rush hour on Wednesday afternoon. Gwent Police had two officers on the scene from around 5pm until the road cleared at 7.20pm and arranged for the vehicle to be recovered. That reduced traffic across the town to a snail like crawl which also led to delays on the M48 Severn Bridge with traffic also stretching back into England from both Chepstow bridges.

Newport Bus, which runs services between the city and Chepstow, warned of delays as a result. Traffic in and out of Wales, through Chepstow, has also been disrupted with the closure to vehicles, since last October, of the Old Wye Bridge on safety grounds, after a crack was discovered on one of its pillars[2]. The closure of the single land bridge could be in place for up to 18 months.

Councillors representing the town have previously been split on whether a bypass, supported by Monmouthshire County Council[3] when it was under Conservative control, or a new bridge, further north and across the Severn in Gloucestershire, offers the best solution to reliving congestion. A Severn crossing from Lydney to Sharpness has been touted by Monmouthshire Labour MP[4] Catherine Fookes and the county council's deputy leader, Labour's Paul Griffiths who represents the town's Castle and Larkfield ward. At present drivers from Lydney have to head nine miles south on the A48 and through Chepstow to use the Severn Bridge to reach the M4 and M5.

Bulwark and Thornwell councillor Armand Watts said he was caught up in crawling traffic on Wednesday afternoon. The Labour councillor said: "I had to take the dog to the vets and it took about 40 minutes. It would be a five minute journey normally.

It was chaos." He said: "One vehicle breaking down, or perhaps running out of petrol, has caused for a short period of time gridlock. It's not Chepstow's fault the problem is all the new housing being built in Lydney and why we need to discuss a new Severn crossing from Lydney to Sharpness."

Conservative councillors Christopher Edwards (left) and Paul Pavia and Labour's Armand Watts who have all said action is needed to address congestion in Chepstow. (Image: Monmouthshire County Council.) Mount Pleasant ward councillor Paul Pavia, who was part of Monmouthshire's Conservative administration that pushed for a bypass, said it had taken his wife nearly an hour to travel around one and a half miles from the Severn Bridge to their home on Wednesday. Cllr Pavia said he has flagged concerns about Chepstow's ability to absorb more traffic[5] in light of Monmouthshire's own development plan proposing 146 homes near the High Beech roundabout and 770 further west near Portskewett.

He said: "An accident at any of the pinch-points through the town brings it and the surrounding areas to a halt. The pressure has been made worse with the closure of the old Wye Bridge. There has got to be an element of urgency to resolve this."

Cllr Christopher Edwards, Conservative for the town's St Kingsmark ward, said a lack of alternative routes is exposed during incidents such as Wednesday. He said: "The regular occurrence of vehicle breakdowns in Chepstow is not just an inconvenience it exposes how fragile our local road network has become. "We need a combination of better traffic management, quicker roadside response to clear incidents, and long-term infrastructure improvements to Highbeech and the once proposed Chepstow bypass to provide resilience when problems occur; particularly in light of the proposed house building both sides on the border.

"Chepstow is a busy gateway town, and our transport system needs to be robust enough to cope when the unexpected happens, which is often."

References

1. ^ long delays, of up to an hour, on the M4 (www.southwalesargus.co.uk)
2. ^ a crack was discovered on one of its pillars (www.southwalesargus.co.uk)
3. ^ Monmouthshire County Council (www.monmouthshire.gov.uk)
4. ^ Severn crossing from Lydney to Sharpness has been touted by Monmouthshire Labour MP (www.southwalesargus.co.uk)
5. ^ flagged concerns about Chepstow's ability to absorb more traffic (www.southwalesargus.co.uk)