// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
M4 junction closures and new Menai bridge in plans to tackle congestion on Welsh roads
The Welsh government has announced plans to tackle congestion in north and south Wales
Junctions on the M4 in Newport could close, and a new bridge built across the Menai Strait, as part of Welsh government plans for two notorious transport bottlenecks.
It will also begin an 18-month project looking at a range of "roads-based" options for the M4, that could include a new motorway or expanding the Brynglas Tunnels.
Ministers are considering whether to close or partially close three junctions, potentially by 2028. However, a review has warned that closing them could cause increased congestion and noise on alternative routes.
It is not clear at this stage how anything would be paid for - the new Menai crossing could cost up to £700m and take up to 10 years to be built
It is the latest set of proposals to tackle congestion on the M4, after plans for a relief road were developed in the 2010s and axed by former Labour first minister Mark Drakeford in 2019.
The government said that Transport for Wales would provide support to "accelerate delivery" of train stations in Cardiff Parkway, Magor and Undy stations.
Proposed junction closures were criticised by the city's council leader, Labour's Dimitri Batrouni, while the Tories and Reform called for the Welsh government to get on with an M4 Relief Road.
In south Wales, the Welsh government is to hold an 18-month study that will look at a range of options for what it says are "road-based solutions" to congestion on the motorway.
Ministers have ruled out the black route previously proposed for the M4 Relief Road - a new motorway south of Newport along the Gwent Levels.