THE man behind some of the Welsh Government's most radical transport policies has urged the people of Newport to be patient as improvements are made.

Speaking to the Argus at the opening of the new footbridge over the city's railway station this week, Lee Waters said the government was building a public transport system for Newport that "a city needs and deserves".

It has been nearly three years since Mark Drakeford cancelled plans for a "relief road" motorway for the city, over its environmental impact and spiralling estimated costs.

Since then, a special commission headed by Lord Terry Burns has laid out ambitious plans to improve rail transport in the Newport area, with new stations connected to the South Wales main line and timetables and ticketing integrated with buses.

Despite government endorsement of the plans, there to date remains a lack of visible, tangible changes in the city as a result of the commission's work, except for the installation of average speed cameras on the M4 - which weren't switched on for 20 months.

South Wales Argus: An artist's impression of a proposed Cardiff Parkway railway station.An artist's impression of a proposed Cardiff Parkway railway station.

Mr Waters, the deputy minister for climate change, said he still believed the decision to cancel the M4 relief road was correct.

"It was £2 billion, it was going through a precious nature reserve and, as we've seen, schemes like that don't tackle the problem that people think they will. Within 10 years or less, they simply fill up with traffic again," he said.

"It would take years to build a motorway, and the amount of money we just simply didn't have," he added. "So there was never going to be any quick fix, whatever decision was made.

"The thing we're doing through the Burns [commission] is building a modern public transport system for Newport.

"It's a series of things, and it's a sequence of things.

"And I guess that's the thing which is going to be hard for people to see, I suppose."

South Wales Argus: How Old Green Roundabout could look if the project goes ahead.How Old Green Roundabout could look if the project goes ahead. (Image: Newsquest)

One project on the horizon is the planned overhaul of Old Green Roundabout, in the city centre, which could be returned to a simpler crossroads-style junction, in a scheme which it is hoped will improve congestion.

There has been a mixed reception to the plans, but Mr Waters said it only formed part of the wider project.

On the roundabout changes, he said: "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody looked at that and thought 'Is that it, after all this fuss - is that all you're going to do?'

"And of course, it's not all we’re going to do, it's the first step."

He said there were "lots of studies and bids and projects going through the pipeline, which takes a number of years, both to design the scheme to get permissions to get the funding".

"These things are complex, and they are slow, unfortunately, which is very frustrating," he added. "But the Old Green is the first public visibility of a series of changes, which together gives Newport the sort of public transport system a city needs and deserves, and that Newport has never had."

South Wales Argus: Lee Waters was the first person to cycle over the new footbridge at Newport railway station.Lee Waters was the first person to cycle over the new footbridge at Newport railway station. (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Waters has been the public face of many of the Welsh Government's recent transport initiatives, from the controversial Roads Review - which recommended most new highways projects should be scrapped - to the slashing of the nation's default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph.

These things will all have environmental benefits, the government claims, but in the short-term, some have claimed ministers are making things more difficult for people who rely on the car, including those who don't have an alternative.

"Not at all," Mr Waters said. "If you don't have an alternative and you only have access to the car, getting [rid of] congestion from the roads that doesn't need to be there, will help people - because it'll remove the unnecessary local journeys that could be made by other ways."

South Wales Argus: General shot of a car approaching a 20mph speed limit sign in Abergavenny.General shot of a car approaching a 20mph speed limit sign in Abergavenny. (Image: UGC)

He added: "I want to give people more choice - at the moment, people feel the only choice they have is to drive.

"That causes all sorts of problems and we want to give people greater choices, so they then have a meaningful decision to make about how they get around."

Enacting these policies is "uncomfortable" and "unpopular", Mr Waters said, describing his job as "not much fun".

But he is spurred on by what he called the "need to take decisions for the long term".

"Newport is going to be underwater by the time my children get to my age," he said. "That's a terrifying prospect.

"It doesn't have to be like that. We can stop that happening but only if we make difficult decisions now."

He added: "I don't think we'll be forgiven by my children's generation if, having known what we should be doing differently, we fail to act."