An external panel is going to be commissioned to draw up tighter criteria for deciding what new road building projects can go ahead.
The given reason for the re-think on roads is environmental, not financial.
Deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters, whose brief includes transport, said he wanted to shift spending to less polluting alternative forms of transport.
“Since 1990, Welsh emissions have fallen by 31%,” he said. “But to reach our statutory target of net zero emissions by 2050, we need to do much more. In the next 10 years, we are going to need to more than double all the cuts we have managed over the last 30 years, if we are going keep temperature rises within safe limits. That means changes in all parts of our lives. Transport makes up some 17% of our total emissions and so must play its part.
“We need a shift away from spending money on projects that encourage more people to drive and spend more money on maintaining our roads and investing in real alternatives that give people a meaningful choice.”
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