PLANS to enable public traffic to use a main road through the Llanwern steelworks site will be drawn up by the Assembly, Newport city council and Corus, following the sale of the route for £7.7 million.

The Assembly's purchase of Queensway from Corus is the latest stage of a strategy to ease congestion on the M4.

The immediate aim is to turn Queensway into a dual carriageway, and to determine what other improvements can be made to enable its use by public traffic.

With the M4 around Newport dogged by increasing congestion, and with key routes in and around the city close to gridlock when accidents close the motorway, Queensway could play a key role in taking some of the pressure off.

Deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said that since the M4 Relief Road plan was shelved last year as being too expensive, other options for improving traffic flows on the M4 - which he called "a vital economic artery" - have been considered, with the Queensway idea emerging as "sustainable and affordable."

"The Assembly will now work closely with Corus and Newport city council to improve the road," he said.

Such improvement will also benefit the Llanwern site, said Uday Chaturvedi, managing director of Corus Strip Products UK.

"Llanwern plays an important role in the South Wales steel industry. The agreement between the company and the Assembly forms part of our vision for the further development of the site for mutual benefit," he said.

A range of work is being carried out to try to improve capacity and safety along the M4, particularly around Newport.

This includes a 50mph speed limit, a new central reservation barrier, and improvements to junctions and, away from the motorway, development of more train stations and park-and-ride facilities, and upgrading of the local road network.