CLWYD South MS and former Welsh Transport Minister Ken Skates has called for all decisions over the region’s roads to be devolved from Cardiff to North Wales.

That comes after plans to upgrade the A483 junction at Wrexham were scrapped.

The future of more than 50 road improvement projects has now become clear after the delayed review commissioned by the Welsh Government was published on Tuesday, February 14.

In a statement demanding clarity and action from the Welsh Government, Mr Skates said decisions over all roads – major and minor – should be made in the north.

READ MORE: Welsh Government scrap A483 junction upgrade plan for Wrexham

At present, decisions over whether to improve the A483, A55, A494 and A5 are made in Cardiff.

Mr Skates wants those decisions to be made in North Wales – with funding also handed to the north.

He said: “We need certainty over how transport in North Wales will be improved. I’ve been Minister for Transport and Economy. The two roles are now split, but they are both incredibly demanding.

"Having that experience, I firmly believe that decisions over roads, buses, rail and active travel are best made at a regional level. It’s time to devolve to the North, beginning with our major roads.”

Mr Skates also said decisions and funding over rail improvements in North Wales should be devolved to the region from Westminster.

He added: “At the moment, those decisions and the funding that accompanies them sit with UK Government. At the very least, should we succeed in getting a consequential of HS2 expenditure, then it should be allocated fairly to the North on a track mile basis.

"We need to be in charge of our own transport system here in North Wales. Both Cardiff and London need to hand over the powers and funding to enable us to take charge and deliver for our citizens.”

Mr Skates welcomed assurances from the Welsh Government that it would not turn its back on the steel, car, aerospace and farming sectors in light of the roads review.

He said: “These vital sectors contribute more in carbon emissions than transport, but are undergoing revolutionary transitions. We will help them transition at the greatest pace available.”

The Leader:

PIC: Lee Waters.

Speaking in the Senedd, the Welsh Government's deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters said: "When we published the Wales Transport Strategy two years ago, we committed to start upon a llwybr newydd - a new path.

“The publication of this Roads Review, along with the National Transport Delivery Plan, and our new Roads Policy Statement, represents a major step forward on that journey.

“Let me be very clear at the outset, we will still invest in roads. In fact, we are building new roads as I speak - but we are raising the bar for where new roads are the right response to transport problems. 

“We are also investing in real alternatives, including investment in rail, bus, walking and cycling projects.

“Of course, doing that in an age of austerity is very challenging. Not only are we not getting our share of HS2 investment, but the UK Government is pushing many bus services over a cliff edge, as well as slashing our capital investment budgets.

“Even if we’d wanted to keep progressing all the road schemes in the pipeline we just do not have the money to do so. Our capital budget will be 8% lower next year in real terms as a result of the UK Government’s failure to invest in infrastructure.

“With fewer resources it becomes even more important to prioritise and the Roads Review helps us to do that.”

“Our approach for the last 70 years is not working.

“As the review points out the by-pass that was demanded to relieve congestion often ends up leading to extra traffic, which in time brings further demands for extra lanes, wider junctions and more roads. 

“Round and round we go, emitting more and more carbon as we do it and we will not get to Net Zero unless we stop doing the same thing over and over. 

“When Julie James and I took up our new roles, we made clear that in this decade Wales has to make greater cuts in emissions than we have in the whole of the last three decades combined.

“Greater cuts in the next ten years than the whole of the last 30 - that’s what the science says we need to do if we are to future-proof Wales.

 “The UN General Secretary has warned that unless we act decisively now we face a ‘climate catastrophe’.

“If we are to declare a Climate and Nature Emergency, legislate to protect the Well-being of Future Generations, and put into law a requirement to reach NetZero by 2050 - we simply have to be prepared to follow through.”