In the month when Welsh Government has launched a public consultation on plans for enhancements to the M4 corridor in Wales, Graham Morgan, director of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, explains why a relief road is essential for the future of the Welsh economy.

Anyone who has followed the on-going debate around proposals to enhance the M4 corridor at Newport would have warmly welcomed the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement earlier this year that “impressive” plans for a relief road would shortly be revealed.

Speaking as part of his annual spending review, he labelled the project as one of the most important road schemes in the whole of the United Kingdom. Almost immediately, Edwina Hart announced that a formal consultation process would begin over the summer months, with a public consultation due in September.

The latest news appears to be that negotiations are still on-going with the Treasury, and until a formal agreement over Wales’ borrowing powers is settled upon, the Welsh Government is unable to secure the estimated £1bn needed to finance the project.

The South Wales Chamber of Commerce has long campaigned for the relief road which has consistently been one of the top priorities for our members for many years.

The M4 is the primary access point to the largest economically active part of Wales but, in its current state, the stretch around Newport is simply unfit for purpose. We all remember the chaos caused by the fire in the Brynglas Tunnels back in 2011, but even a minor incident on this stretch of road can lead to tailbacks and delays for hours at a time.

Our own research, carried out as part of a wider piece of work for the British Chambers of Commerce, has indicated that the economic benefits of the road would be around £2.1bn for a cost benefit ratio of more than 2:1. That represents a very solid business case – there are few major projects in the UK which can hope to have such a strong return.

Other options such as the widening of the Brynglas Tunnels, or enhancements to the SDR road around Newport, all have equally significant costs attached but would ultimately fail to solve the issue of congestion around the Newport area.

In addition to improving the wider economy, the benefit to individual businesses that have no option to use the road will be huge as the wasted man hours, money and resources that are an inevitable consequence of regular delays must ultimately come off their bottom line. They can only be expected to absorb these costs for so long before they must either close or look to relocate, most likely outside of Wales.

The relief road is also essential for the on-going regeneration of Newport and an absolutely vital part of the transport infrastructure we will require if plans for a South East Wales City Region are to be realised. It would help to open up west Wales as a more attractive tourist destination to holidaymakers in the towns and cities along the M4 corridor, and in the short term, there would be economic benefits during the construction phase. We would hope to see much of that work ear-marked for local businesses.

There is no doubt that this road is key to enhancing the Welsh economy and we must hope that this latest stale-mate is only a minor blip. We were disappointed when the decision was made to cancel the project back in 2009, but it’s pleasing to see the voices of our members and businesses across the country being heard, and that there is new life in a project which can have huge economic benefits for Wales.