Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status; the NHS commissions most emergency medical services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other emergency services, the public access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. In addition to ambulance services provided by NHS organisations, there are some private and volunteer emergency medical services arrangements in place in the UK, the use of private or volunteer ambulances at public events or large private sites, as part of community provision of services such as community first responders. Air ambulance services in the UK are not part of the NHS and are funded through charitable donations.
Paramedics are seconded from a local NHS ambulance service, with the exception of Great North Air Ambulance Service who employ their own paramedics. Doctors are provided by their home hospital and spend no more than 40% of their time with an air ambulance service. Public ambulance services across the UK are required by law to respond to four types of requests for care, which are: Emergency calls Doctor's urgent admission requests High dependency and urgent inter-hospital transfers Major incidentsAmbulance trusts and services may undertake non-urgent patient transport services on a commercial arrangement with their local hospital trusts or health boards, or in some cases on directly funded government contracts, although these contracts are fulfilled by private and voluntary providers; the National Health Service Act 1946 gave county and borough councils a statutory responsibility to provide an emergency ambulance service, although they could contract a voluntary ambulance service to provide this, with many contracting the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance or another local provider.
The last St John Division, to be so contracted is reputed to have been at Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, where the two-bay ambulance garage can still be seen at the branch headquarters. The Regional Ambulance Officers’ Committee reported in 1979 that “There was considerable local variation in the quality of the service provided in relation to vehicles and equipment. Most Services were administered by Local Authorities through their Medical Officer of Health and his Ambulance Officer, a few were under the aegis of the Fire Service, whilst others relied upon agency methods for the provision of part or all of their services.” The 142 existing ambulance services were transferred by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 from local authority to central government control in 1974, consolidated into 53 services under regional or area health authorities. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England.
The June 2005 report "Taking healthcare to the Patient", authored by Peter Bradley, Chief Executive of the London Ambulance Service, for the Department of Health led to the merging of the 31 trusts into 13 organisations in England, plus one organisation each in Wales and Northern Ireland. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, this has further reduced to 10 ambulance service trusts in England, plus the Isle of Wight which has its own provision. Following the passage of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, commissioning of the ambulance services in each area passed from central government control into the hands of regional clinical commissioning groups; the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary provider for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England, 1 each in the other three countries. In England there are now ten NHS ambulance trusts, as well as an ambulance service on the Isle of Wight, run directly by Isle of Wight NHS Trust, with boundaries following those of the former regional government offices.
The ten trusts are: East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust London Ambulance Service NHS Trust North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS TrustThe English ambulance trusts are represented by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, with the Scottish and Northern Irish providers all associate members. On the 14 November 2018 West Midlands Ambulance Service became the UK's first university-ambulance trust; the service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Scottish Ambulance Service is a Special Health Board that provides ambulance services throughout whole of Scotland, on behalf of the Health and Social Care Directorates of the Scottish Government.
Due to the remote nature of many areas of Scotland compared to the other Home Nations, the Scottish Ambulance Service has Britain's only publi
M4 motorway Usk bridge
The M4 motorway Usk bridge carries the M4 motorway across the River Usk in the city of Newport in the United Kingdom. The bridge is two separate 450-foot bridges for the eastbound and westbound carriageways; when travelling westbound, the bridges lead directly into the twin 1,200-foot-long Brynglas Tunnels. Work commenced on both the bridge and the tunnels on 10 September 1962, two months after work commenced on the George Street Bridge further downstream; the entire Newport bypass section of the M4 opened in 1967. In 1989 a further two crossings were added as a connection from the M4 to the north/southbound A4042 Heidenheim Drive
Newport city centre
Newport city centre is traditionally regarded as the area of Newport, Wales bounded by the west bank of the River Usk, the George Street Bridge, the eastern flank of Stow Hill and the South Wales Main Line. Most of the city centre is contained within two conservation areas: the central area and the area around Lower Dock Street. Most of the city centre is located in the Stow Hill district; the main shopping thoroughfare is Commercial Street, which forms part of the north-south axis of High Street, Commercial Street and Commercial Road, linking the heart of the city with Newport Docks. The streets were laid-out in 1807 by Sir Charles Morgan's Tredegar Wharf Company to connect the expanding docks with the main roads in the centre; the area between Commercial Street and the river used to contain a mixture of railway lines and river wharves so the street pattern in this area was never fixed. On the removal of the railway lines and wharves in the 1960s the large John Frost Square and Kingsway Shopping Centre were built, close to Newport bus station.
This area has been redeveloped to provide the Friars Walk shopping and leisure complex, opened in November 2015. As part of this redevelopment, the Chartist Mural was destroyed. Towards the northern end of Newport city centre is Westgate Square, named after the Westgate Hotel. Here, the five roads of Commercial Street, Stow Hill, Bridge Street, High Street and Skinner Street converge; this is regarded as the centre although the actual centre, as measured on road signs, is further up Bridge Street outside the Queen's Hotel where most OS maps pin point the centre. On Upper Dock Street is the Chartist Tower, a 15-storey office block, built in 1966 and the tallest building in Newport, it features a secure underground car park. Radio transmitters and mobile phone masts are situated on the roof. During the 2014 NATO summit a security forces command and control team was housed temporarily in the building, with the top floor and roof being used as an observation post. In 2017 the building was sold as party of a £6.5M deal and is planned to be developed into a 163-bed Mercure hotel.
From Bridge Street, the two roads of High Street and Cambrian Road run in parallel towards Newport railway station. Joining the two roads is the covered Victorian Newport Arcade. At the western end of the arcade is the Cambrian Centre, being redeveloped. To the east of High Street is Newport Market, a Grade II-listed building. Kingsway/Usk Way is a boulevard on the west bank of the River Usk linking Newport Castle the Riverfront Theatre and the University of South Wales to the western ends of City Bridge and Newport Transporter Bridge; the city centre is being expanded to include areas on the east bank. The area between Newport Bridge and George Street Bridge is included in the Newport Unlimited master plan as a new high-density combined commercial and residential area, joined to the west bank by Newport City footbridge; the plan shows a strong urban form along the riverfront, emphasised with tall landmark buildings. The city's major sports stadium, at Rodney Parade on the east bank of the River Usk, is a short walk from the city centre via Newport Bridge or Newport City footbridge.
Many of the non-retail city centre businesses are located on Bridge Street. In 2014 Admiral Insurance opened a large newly constructed office opposite Newport railway station; the 16 storey Chartist Tower is the tallest building in Newport, is undergoing a £10m redevelopment into a mixed use building by developers, set to include a hotel, 30,000 sq. ft of office space and 18,000 sq. ft of ground floor retail space. Newport's city centre shops are concentrated along the pedestrianised High Street, Commercial Street and adjoining roads. Friars Walk shopping and leisure complex and, linked by John Frost Square, the adjoining Kingsway Shopping Centre are the main under-cover shopping areas; the city centre has suffered from competition from Cwmbran Centre and out-of-town shopping areas at Newport Retail Park to the east and retail parks around Maesglas to the west. The protracted development of Friars Walk was cited as a reason for high street stores, such as Marks and Spencer, leaving the city centre during the 2010s.
Friars Walk is a under-cover shopping centre and leisure complex with several levels, a range of high street shops, eateries, a cinema, a bowling alleyand a soft play area. Kingsway Shopping Centre is a car park with over 1000 spaces, it offers a range of high street and owned shops, adjoining Newport Museum, Art Gallery and Central Library. It is close to Newport bus station, was redeveloped in 2008; the Cambrian Centre is a small shopping centre in Cambrian Road in Newport city centre. Among other units, it houses one of the city's the John Wallace Linton. A planning application by Holder Mathias Architects was approved in 2007 by Newport City Council for an £87 million redevelopment and refurbishment to be known as City Spires but it was mothballed in 2008 before construction started. An alternative redevelopment plan was started in 2012; the first phase of development, Admiral House, was opened in 2014. Www.newportcitycentre.co.uk
Traffic reporting
Traffic reporting is the near real-time distribution of information about road conditions such as traffic congestion and traffic collisions. The reports help drivers avoid traffic problems. Traffic reports in cities, may report on major delays to mass transit that does not involve roads. In addition to periodic broadcast reports, traffic information can be transmitted to GPS units and personal computers. There are several methods in use today to gather traffic speed and incident info, ranging from professional reporters, to GPS crowdsourcing to combinations of both methods. INRIX uses its network of over 175 million vehicles and devices to gather speed data from mobile phones, delivery vans, other fleet vehicles equipped with GPS locator devices including smart phones and Ford SYNC and Toyota Entune and much of Europe, South America, Africa. Google Traffic works by crowdsourcing the GPS information from phone users. By calculating the speed of users along a stretch of road, Google is able to generate a live traffic map.
Its subsidiary, Waze allows users to report directly via a smartphone app. TomTom Traffic uses crowd-sourced data from mobile phone users, along with data from traditional sources such as induction loops and traffic cameras. Monitoring police radio frequencies; some radio stations have agreements with states' highway patrol that permit a direct connection with a law enforcement computer. This enables real-time information gathering of the latest accident reports to highway patrol divisions. Many areas have other areas of high traffic volume. For example, by the company Global Traffic Network. Traffic cameras Giditraffic is an online social service which employs crowd sourcing as its primary means of providing real-time traffic updates to subscribers; the service is delivered free of charge. RoadPal uses crowd-sourced data from mobile users as well as the social media to provide users with traffic information of places of interest to them. Roadside speed sensors, either infra-red sensors for spot measurements or automatic number plate recognition for measuring speed between two sites.
GPS units Smartphones Radio via voice RDS, TA Electronic road signs 5-1-1 traffic information phone line or similar. Television and web INRIX develops and distributes INRIX Traffic, a free mobile application, provides reporting services to a variety of local television stations. NAVTEQ provides data used in a wide range of applications, including automotive navigation systems for many car makers. Most clients use Navteq to provide traffic reports in major metropolitan areas throughout North America. NAVTEQ partners with third-party agencies and companies to provide its services for portable GPS devices made by Garmin, Lowrance, NDrive and web-based applications such as Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps, Nokia Maps. XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio use NAVTEQ data to show traffic information on navigation systems. NAVTEQ's media services was spun out to form Radiate Media in 2011, which subsequently merged with Global Traffic Network in 2016, forming US Traffic Network. Tele Atlas, a subsidiary of TomTom.
Delivers digital maps and other dynamic content for navigation and location-based services, including personal and in-car navigation systems, provides data used in a wide range of mobile and Internet map applications. Google Maps uses a variety of governmental and private traffic reporting organizations to provide information, along with its Waze subsidiary, which uses crowdsourcing to provide observed traffic conditions
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world; the Irish Sea lies between Great Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world, it is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017. The UK is constitutional monarchy; the current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of state.
The United Kingdom's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million. Other major urban areas in the UK include Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire conurbations, Greater Glasgow and the Liverpool Built-up Area; the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution; the nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language and political systems of many of its former colonies; the United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has a high Human Development Index rating, ranking 14th in the world, it was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power, with considerable economic, military and political influence internationally, it is sixth in military expenditure in the world. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
It has been a leading member state of the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization; the 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has been used as a description for the former kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was "Great Britain"; the Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, Scotland and Northern Ireland are widely referred to as countries. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom; some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdom refer to Scotland and Northern Ireland as "regions". Northern Ireland is referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice revealing one's political preferences"; the term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England and Wales in combination. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole; the term "Britain" is used both as a synonym for Great Britain, as a synonym for the United Kingdom. Usage is mixed, with the BBC preferring to use Britain as shorthand only for Great Britain and the UK Government, while accepting that both terms refer to the United K
M4 motorway
The M4, a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales, was referred to as the London-South Wales Motorway. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Second Severn Crossing renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge, was inaugurated on 5 June 1996 by HRH The Prince of Wales and the M4 was rerouted. Apart from its two spurs—the A48 and the M48—the M4 is the only motorway in Wales; the line of the motorway from London to Bristol runs in parallel with the A4. After crossing the River Severn, toll-free since 17 December 2018, the motorway follows the A48, to terminate at the Pont Abraham services in Carmarthenshire; the major towns and cities along the route—a distance of 189 miles —include Slough, Swindon, Newport, Bridgend, Port Talbot and Swansea. A new road from London to South Wales was first proposed in the 1930s. In 1956, the Ministry of Transport announced plans for the first major post-war road improvement projects; the Chiswick flyover, a short section of elevated dual-carriageway, not classed as a motorway, opened in 1959 to reduce the impact of traffic travelling between central London and the west.
The Maidenhead bypass opened in 1961 whilst J1-J5 opened in 1965. The stretch from J18 to the west of Newport was opened including the Severn Bridge; the Port Talbot by-pass built in the 1960s and now part of the M4, was the A48 motorway, a number now allocated to a short section of motorway near Cardiff. The Ministry of Transport intended that the M4 would terminate at Tredegar Park west of Newport, following the creation of the Welsh Office that the Government became committed to a high-standard dual carriageway to Carmarthenshire; the English section of the motorway was completed on 22 December 1971 when the 50-mile stretch between junctions 9 and 15 was opened to traffic. The Welsh section was completed in 1993; the Second Severn Crossing opened in 1996, together with new link motorways on either side of the estuary to divert the M4 over the new crossing. The existing route over the Severn Bridge was redesignated the M48, the new M49 was opened to connect the new crossing to the M5. In April 2005, speed checks carried out by police camera vans between junction 14 and junction 18 led to a public protest, involving a "go-slow" of several hundred vehicles along the affected sections of the motorway.
Between 2007 and January 2010, the section from Castleton to Coryton was widened to six lanes. The scheme was formally opened on 25 January 2010 by Ieuan Wyn Jones the Deputy First Minister for Wales. During 2009, the Newport section of the motorway between junctions 23a and 29 was upgraded with a new concrete central barrier. In February 2010 it was proposed that the M4 in South Wales would become the first hydrogen highway with hydrogen stations provided along the route, with an aspiration for further stations to be provided along the M4 into South West England over time. Between 2008 and 2010, junction 11 was extensively remodelled with a new four-lane junction, two new road bridges and other works; the £65m scheme included work on the Mereoak roundabout and part of the A33 Swallowfield Bypass near Shinfield, the conversion of the two existing bridges, one of, available only to pedestrians and cyclists and the other to buses. It involved the movement of the local Highways Agency and Fire Service offices, the construction of a long footbridge network, a new bus-lane and a new gyratory.
Sound barriers for nearby residential areas were installed. In April 2008, the decision to preserve a rare Vickers machine gun pillbox and turn it into a bat roost was announced by the developers; the M4 crosses the River Severn on the Second Severn Crossing, toll free from 17 December 2018. Maintenance of the 123 miles section of the motorway in England is the responsibility of the Highways Agency; the 76 miles section in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. For the majority of its length, the national speed limit applies. Exceptions include the following: 40 miles per hour on the Chiswick Flyover within London in both directions. 60 miles per hour between junction 4 and the Chiswick Flyover eastbound only. 50 miles per hour when approaching the toll plaza after the Severn Crossing. 50 miles per hour on the Port Talbot elevated section between junction 40 and junction 41. The fixed speed camera was removed in 2006. In July 2014, an average speed camera system was installed; the M4 has two sections of smart motorway.
The one between junctions 19 and 20 north of Bristol has variable speed limits and a part-time hard-shoulder. Completion was in summer 2014; the section between junctions 24 and 29 in Newport has variable speed limits. In 2010 it was announced that a smart motorway would be constructed between junctions 3 and 12, with work starting in Autumn 2018; this will be the longest smart motorway scheme in the United Kingdom, with a length of 51km. Work is expected to be completed in March 2022 at a cost of £848 million; the Brynglas Tunnels carry the M4 under Brynglas Hill in Wales. The 404 yards-long tunnels are only twin -- bored tunnels in the UK motorway network. In July 2011, a lorry fire in one tunnel closed the motorway. Although there were no injuries and no deaths, the tunnel remained closed and a contraflow system was in place in the remaining tunnel for about one month, causing major tr
M4 relief road
The M4 relief road is a proposed motorway south of the city of Newport, South Wales. Proposed in 1991, the scheme was dropped by the Welsh Government in 2009 when costs had risen to £1 billion, they were revived in 2011 with indications of support from the Treasury given in April 2013. There was controversial media speculation that it would be the United Kingdom's second full toll-paying motorway. In July 2014, the Welsh Transport Minister, Edwina Hart, stated that the scheme, following the so-called'black route', would go ahead and could be completed by 2022. A second motorway has been proposed to the south of Newport, running for 14 miles parallel to the existing M4 motorway from junction 23A at Magor, to junction 29 at Castleton, avoiding the need to widen the Brynglas Tunnels; the concept behind the motorway was based on the M6 Toll motorway, a relief road built to reduce traffic on the M6 motorway around Birmingham. The existing motorway runs through the Brynglas Tunnels north of Newport city centre.
Like many stretches of motorway, it does not conform to current motorway standards: it lacks continuous hard shoulders due to previous widening, has spaced junctions and narrows to a restricted two-lane section through the Brynglas Tunnels, where heavy congestion occurs at peak hours. A variable speed limit is in place between junctions 24 and 28. M4 sliproads at Junction 25 are diverted to reduce traffic through the tunnels. M4 Westbound traffic joining at Junction 25 is diverted via Junction 25A/A4042 /A4051 to Junction 26. Eastbound traffic wishing to exit at Junction 25 is diverted from Junction 26 via the A4051/A4042/Junction 25A; this adds to congestion on Malpas Road and other local roads near Newport city centre at peak times. According to the Welsh Government, traffic data shows that the motorway is approaching, at times exceeds, capacity. An M4 relief road between Magor and Castleton was first proposed by the Welsh Office in 1991, but there was little progress on the scheme in the following years.
Plans for the New M4 were announced on 3 March 2006 as part of a raft of measures to improve road transport in Wales. The road would have cost between GB£350 million and £1 billion, been financed by a Private Finance Initiative with the Welsh Assembly, it was planned to be the United Kingdom's second full toll-paying motorway, after the M6 Toll. Proposals in 2004 for the road to be tolled were met with scepticism. Several experts suggested that a new toll road would be "a white elephant for 20 hours a day", due to the variable traffic levels through the Brynglas Tunnels. Outside peak hours, the tunnels would still have been the preferable option to taking a toll road for most people. Liberal Democrat spokesperson Jenny Randerson raised concerns about whether a toll would have been necessary on the road, as the Severn Bridge, less than 10 miles to the east charges a toll to cross it and compared the plan to a "double tax on Wales"; the Road Haulage Association said that an additional toll was "almost rubbing salt into the wound".
On 15 July 2009, the Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones announced that the plans for the New M4 were to be dropped and replaced by a package of measures to improve the flow of traffic on the M4 motorway in south-east Wales. In November 2009, Dr. Anthony Beresford of the Business School at Cardiff University called for the decision to cancel the road to be overturned. In December 2011, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced that he would discuss options for improvements to the M4 with the Welsh Government, including the provision of additional finance which, it has been reported, could lead to the re-emergence of plans for a new M4 relief road. In February 2012 work started on a dual-carriageway road connecting Newport's southern distributor road to junction 23A of the M4 using part of the proposed route of the M4 relief road and a former access road to the Llanwern steelworks. A public consultation exercise on options for improving the capacity of the M4 corridor around Newport opened on 5 March 2012.
On 2 April 2013 it was reported that the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne was to give support to the scheme in the Autumn Statement and various newspapers reporting that it would be tolled. The Welsh Government countered, saying that it had no plans for tolling. Osborne denied any plans for tolling. A consultation on the proposed plan ran from 23 September to 16 December 2013. On 16 July 2014, Wales Transport Minister Edwina Hart said that the preferred "black route" south of Newport between Junctions 23 and 29, including a new crossing of the River Usk, would go ahead, she said that it would boost the economy, ease traffic congestion and improve road capacity. The scheme would be the largest capital investment programme in Wales since devolution, it was hoped that it would be finished by 2022. The current M4 would be diverted at Magor to follow the A4810 Eastern Distributor Road, before diverting away from it across the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels; the first junction would be located just south of the steelworks site to provide access to the Glan Llyn development site.
This would be followed by a bridge over the River Usk, before another junction over the docks providing a link to the A48 Southern Distributor Road. The remainder of the route would cross the levels just south of Duffryn, before an interchange with the current M4 and A48 at Castleton; as part of improving traffic flow around Newport, the following measures have been taken: Creating a link between the M4, M48 and B4245 Improvements to Junction 28 Tredegar Park Removing the eastern sliproads at Junction 26 Malpas Downgrading the current
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