Speed cameras installed more than a year ago along a long stretch of the M4 in Wales still haven’t been switched on. From the middle of March 2021 a stretch of the M4 through Newport was limited to 50mph speed restrictions in both directions from junction 28 at Tredegar Park to junction 24 at Coldra.
To that point plans had been in the offing for more than a year after the Welsh Government established the South East Wales Transport Commission to come up with alternative suggestions for how to deal with pollution and congestion on the M4. Speed limits in Newport were deemed to be one of the quicker solutions Lord Terence Burns’ commission recommended alongside enhancements to lane guidance on the approach to Brynglas Tunnels and improved traffic officer response times following collisions.
But two years after the recommendations were made and a year after the cameras were installed Wales’ police multi-agency GoSafe has confirmed that they are yet to go live. The reason for the delay, it said, was due to IT problems and staffing issues.
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A spokesman for GoSafe said: “Due to the advent of digital technology and the demands upon IT departments to install several camera types we have reached a point where significant development and investment in systems is required before we can make these schemes live and absorb the extra demand which will arise as part of these schemes. To that end we have approved additional resourcing in the IT staff team to assist with the backlog of development work to bring all schemes online.
“To date our recruitment attempts have been unsuccessful and have meant that we are unable to secure the staff to deliver the IT solutions required. I offer assurance that we have dedicated resources working diligently on this matter to ensure that we continue to make progress towards our enforcement goals.”
More than a quarter of Wales’ air quality monitoring areas (AQMAs), where pollution has reached such dangerous levels local authorities have to start monitoring them, are in Newport. One of those AQMAs is in St Julians at junction 25.
When annual averages of nitrogen dioxide surpass 40 micrograms per cubic metre it is considered dangerous to people. In May 2016 that figure at St Julians was at 49 according to the Welsh Government’s own figures while in May 2018 it was at 46. In May 2020 it was at 19 (largely owing to pandemic restrictions) and this month the figure stands at 32.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The data that we’ve collected throughout the process demonstrates the impact the reduced speed limits have had on air quality across all locations. We continue to work closely with the Police and GoSafe to support enforcement at M4 Newport.”
