P-04-556 No to Junction 41 Closure. Correspondence – Petitioner to the Committee and her letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure. 18.10.2016

Dear members of the Petitions Committee,

Thank you for once again considering the petition against the closure of Junction 41. The Action group is awaiting details of the further analysis referred to in the most recent correspondence from Ms Hart in December 2015. I understand that Ms. Hart's replacement, the new Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure will be undertaking a further study and we would be pleased to be involved in any consultations.

I have written to Mr. Skates to this effect and have attached this correspondence to this email.

Thanks Again,

Sincerely, Rose David (petitioner).

Dear Mr. Skates,

I write to you in relation to my petition against the closure of Junction 41 at Port Talbot which is again being considered by the Petitions Committee on 1st November. Our AM David Rees has stated that you are undertaking a further survey into the situation and may be considering a site visit at a future date. If so, please would you consider meeting a small delegation of local people who are active in our junction 41 Action Group to listen to our concerns?

I know you have access to all our previous correspondence to Ms. Hart but I would like to briefly summarise some of our main concerns below:

1. We believe that alternatives, such as hard-shoulder running for local traffic, ruled out on financial and H&S grounds, have not been properly considered.

2. Much of the congestion is caused by the mandatory 50 mile limit at Port Talbot. Closing the junctions will have a negligible effect on this.

3. Westbound congestion often begins at Junction 43 and 44 and backs up to Junction 41. Junction 41 is often cited as causing tailbacks which actually begin further along the motorway. Closing Junction 41 will result in increased traffic at Junction 43 and will exacerbate this problem.

4. The previous report into the closures is flawed in many aspects. We have taken issue with a number of its conclusions on grounds of selective headline statistics and the use of non comparable data to name but two. The net effect on traffic congestion in terms of journey times is negligible (11 seconds according to our analysis of the data).

5. The new relief distributor road is only really used by traffic moving east and west. It is not accessible to traffic accessing the motorway north of the town from the valleys.

6. The effect of the junction closure on the local road systems is not acceptable at peak times and is sometimes dangerous.

There are many other issues with regard to the closure of our junction and, although we understand the frustrations of motorists who are caught up in congestion at Port Talbot, we believe that the problem will not be solved by a simple junction closure. The net gain to motorists would be minimal but the effect on our town centre businesses would be catastrophic.

Finally, I would like to point out that support for our campaign has come from all our A.M.'s regardless of party allegiances. All are united against the prospect of choking the life out of our town.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you ,

Yours sincerely,

Rose David (petitioner)