The wisdom and far sightedness of this is remarkable.

‘When the private car is king and all the taxpayer funding goes on expanding roads to accommodate ever greater numbers of private cars, then the 80% who have no option other than to take a bus become beggars in this kingdom’ ✍️Huw Irranca-Davies nation.cymru/opinion/turnin…

It's been a pleasure to be involved in the Roads Review, and great to see how WG have embraced it in shaping their roads policy going forwards. The publication yesterday marks the end of that process, and so a few thoughts from me. (1/) (puts head above parapet)

The report shouldn't be seen as a standalone document, but part of wider transport policy in Wales. Therefore, read it in conjuction with the NTDP also published today to get a full picture. gov.wales/national-trans… Note that local govt funded schemes aren't in the NTDP (2/)

It doesn't mark the end of road building in Wales, just a change in how we think about roads. It also doesn't mark the end of road maintenance. Wales needs a working road network & the Roads Review doesn't stop this. And to be clear, we aren't digging up roads either (3/)

As a Panel, we've reviewed hundreds of pages of documents (sometimes just for one scheme). We've also engaged with scheme sponsors and visited locations where necessary. And in some cases, we've sought extra data where there are gaps that needed to be understood (4/)

For schemes that are no longer supported, it doesn't mean the work is wasted. The point of appraisal is to see if something is worth doing, not an automatic right for it to happen. And the data analysis can inform future solutions if there is a genuine transport problem. (5/)

I won't comment on all the recommendations, just focus on the one I know best: freight. Policy can often be "freight blind", & we certainly found this in scheme appraisals. My favourite: "This route is a major freight corridor" with absolutely no supporting evidence. (6/)

However, I'd argue this report is anything but freight blind - we've been mindful to think about the needs of freight users. Hopefully scheme sponsors can take this forward, and engage effectively with the industry to understand better how freight moves around Wales. (7/)

And finally, a map produced from AADF to illustrate freight flows, in terms of volume and % of total traffic. (I did mention extra data...) As well as the east-west corridors, there are also important cross-country routes too (e.g. A483). (ducks back under parapet) (8/8)

Andrew Potter Andrew - For me it highlighted the scale of policy errors over generations. Very powerful report that showed we have been wrong on nearly every aspect of public and private investment into our Infrastructure.

Amazing work Welsh Government Transport! Future Welsh road schemes must not increase emissions or cars on road, or lead to higher speeds, or negatively impact environment. Investment for public transport & cycling instead 👏 London politicians, check this out... bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-…

This announcement has been welcomed by campaigners over the border in #Shropshire who want Shrop Council to follow this “bold example” and cancel plans for the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road. #LDReporter

Fundamentally the Welsh Government made the right call yesterday on the Roads Review. Yes, there will be instances where building a new road is the right answer, and yes, where the case is made, those roads should be built. (1/2)

The Welsh Government has released the finding of its Roads Review Panel and has elected to scrap nine major road projects in favour of finding more carbon-friendly alternatives Full story: buff.ly/3Xrv3Wc #roadsreviewpanel #climatechange #sustainability #Menaistrait

Really interesting #Walescast podcast with Amani Wyre explaining the rationale for the Welsh Government #RoadsReview . We are never going to hit our net zero targets with more roads, and equally we will never tackle air pollution without radical action open.spotify.com/episode/1jLuXJ…

Find out more about Professor Andrew Potter’s involvement in the Wales Roads Review. ⬇️ The review is a ground-breaking policy that reassessed road-building schemes against a series of tough tests on their impact on the climate emergency. cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2703…

We will still invest in roads but we are raising the bar for where new roads are the right response to transport problems. We will be applying 4 tests to all future projects to see if we want to build them. gov.wales/national-trans…

Wales featured not once but twice in this global list of 100 Climate Policy Breakthroughs from ⁦Apolitical⁩ - for the roads review and having a Future Generations Commissioner ⁦Welsh Government Climate Change⁩ ⁦Future Gen Cymru⁩ ⁦Lynn Sloman⁩ apolitical.co/list/en/climat…