Major transport improvements on the way for Carmarthenshire

Improvements to public transport, walking and cycling routes and enhanced connections between communities are set to go ahead following significant funding for Carmarthenshire through Welsh Government’s Regional Transport Grant Programme.

This investment will help projects and priorities set out in the south-west Wales Regional Transport Plan, with funding close to £25m awarded across Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea.

In Carmarthenshire, the funding will enable Carmarthenshire County Council to deliver a range of projects. This includes:

• £750,000 for the delivery of road safety improvements on the B4304 Station Road/New Dock Road, Llanelli to deliver a shared use path and traffic calming measures
• £2.69m of funding for walking, wheeling and cycling, including:
• £500,000 for scheme delivery and development of ongoing work in Llandovery
• £600,000 for the continued development/delivery of the Llanelli Masterplan
• £1.25m for the continued development of Carmarthen Masterplan and delivery of elements including links between Abergwili and Carmarthen
• £240,000 of minor works and feasibility packages
• £100,000 to develop a Safe Routes in Communities scheme for future construction in Cross Hands
•  £330,000 for public transport improvements:
• £250,000 to complete the construction of Llanelli Multimodal Interchange
• £80,000 to help develop a Regional School Transport initiative
• £500,000 of ultra-low emission vehicle funding:
• £490,000 to deliver an electric vehicle rapid charging hub in Nantgaredig
• £10,000 to continue the roll-out of gully-charging trials for EV owners with no off-street parking
• £2.05m of highways (multimodal) funding:
• £250,000 for Carmarthen Town Access Improvements – multi-modal improvements across Carmarthen town
• £650,000 for Llanelli Town Access Improvements - multi-modal improvements across Llanelli town centre
• £400,000 to deliver upgrade schemes within the Substandard Bridges Programme to support highway resilience
• £750,000 to develop proposals for sustainable transport and access aspects of the Cwm Gwyrdd development in Nant-y-Caws

·       £116,400 of road safety funding for ongoing initiatives to educate vulnerable road user groups, such as Biker Down Cymru, Dragon Rider Cymru, National Standard Cycle Training, Kerbcraft and Road safety and active travel training.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure Services, Cllr Edward Thomas, said:

This investment will enable Carmarthenshire County Council to continue the delivery of significant improvements to transport links across Carmarthenshire to provide better transport links between communities as well as further active travel opportunities to enable safer walking and wheeling activities across the county.

This follows this week’s exciting announcement that the much anticipated Tywi Valley Path, which stretches from Abergwili to Ffairfach, will be fully open in time for the Easter holidays.”

The South West Wales Regional Transport Plan has been developed by the Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) for south west Wales which sets out a long-term vision to make it easier, greener and more affordable for people to travel across the region.