M4 relief road: No to new motorway south of Newport - BBC News
Reaction as it happened as plans for a new motorway south of Newport were abandoned
It had become clear over the past few days that the plans for an M4 relief road were heading for the scrapyard.

U-turns aren’t normally allowed on motorways. This case is the exception, it appears.

Mark Drakeford insisted that today’s decision was the result of a changed financial and political context. Part of that change of context though is a change of first minister.

We don’t know whether Carwyn Jones would have given the plan the go-ahead had he taken the decision himself, as he’d intended.

Many suspect that the former first minister regarded the relief road as part of his legacy. If so, today will have been a disappointment for him.

All of which, of course, leaves the people of Newport dealing with the worst congestion problems in Wales with all the inconvenience and pollution that go with that.

That congestion isn’t confined to the M4 though. Newportonians will be hoping that any future measures take in not just the motorway but the A467, the A4042 and the frequently gridlocked city centre.