M4 congestion needs a 'roads-based solution', first minister says

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has promised to tackle congestion along the M4 motorway and said it needs a "roads-based solution".

The Plaid Cymru leader said the Brynglas Tunnels in Newport are an "economic problem for Wales".

But ap Iorwerth did not commit to a specific scheme to address the traffic black spot in an interview with BBC Walescast.

Welsh Labour accused ap Iorwerth of making an "unfunded transport promise", while Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives said a relief road should be built.

Plaid had been opposed to a proposed M4 relief road, a controversial project to build a new motorway across the Gwent levels south of Newport, when the former Labour government last ditched the scheme.

The road, also known as the black route, would have bypassed the Brynglas Tunnels, which struggle to cope with the volume of traffic the M4 attracts at peak times.

Speaking at the Urdd Eisteddfod on Anglesey on Wednesday, ap Iorwerth said it had been Plaid policy for "many, many years" that something needed to be done to "unclog that Brynglas bottleneck".

"We remain against that black route as it was called, which was unnecessary," he said, adding that a "road-based solution" was still needed alongside new railway stations proposed between Cardiff and the Severn Tunnel.

Ap Iorwerth said options could include the so-called blue route, which would involve upgrading an existing dual carriageway through the south of Newport.

"What we need to do is do the work, and we will, to find the solutions," he said.

Former first minister Carwyn Jones was the last Welsh Labour leader to support the project, before it was ditched by his successor Mark Drakeford citing environmental grounds and costs.

After Reform and the Conservatives vowed to build the M4 relief road in the Senedd election campaign, Drakeford told BBC Wales he believed it would be financially "prohibitive" to revive the scheme, which when axed was thought to cost £1.6bn.

A Labour spokesperson said: "The first minister has already admitted that they don't have a plan for the M4. So is this just another plan to have a plan? People in Newport deserve clarity, not unfunded transport promises."

Conservative MS for Newport and Islwyn, Natasha Asghar, said if Plaid was serious about tackling congestion "it must commit to delivering an M4 relief road".

Reform said the road is "desperately needed" and said it would hold Plaid to account.

Ap Iorwerth also did not rule out building a new third Menai crossing on Anglesey, after the Menai Suspension Bridge closed three times in two days on Wednesday.

"Something has to be done to improve the resilience of that Britannia crossing," he said, referring to the bridge which carries the A55.

"One answer is to have another structure next to it. Another one which I pushed for years is to have a sort-of three lane model."

In the wide-ranging interview, the first minister recommitted himself to his election campaign promise of ending two-year waits in the NHS within a year, after his health minister told ITV Wales it could take up to four.

Asked about the comment, ap Iorwerth said he stuck to his original target and denied the pair were saying different things.

But he said he will be "honest" if there are "blocks in the road" that stop the government moving as quickly as it wanted.

The first minister also said benefits and the welfare system should not be talked about "as being a bad thing", after being asked if he was worried about how many people in Wales are on benefits.

Ap Iorwerth said: "We should be concerned about giving people the support to be in a place that they don't need that safety net.

"But there are people who will always need that safety net and it's only right that we look after them."

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