CHEPSTOW residents have reiterated that a bypass which has now been put off until at least next year would make a difference in reducing traffic problems in the town.

Last month the Welsh Government’s transport minister Edwina Hart wrote to the town’s Assembly Member Nick Ramsay to tell him any bypass would have to wait until next year for funding.

A partner at Chepstow-based haulage firm Stroat Transport David Bollen said: “It definitely would (help). The sooner it gets built the better for South Wales and the Forest area. At certain times of the day you try to avoid Chepstow – but sometimes you can’t.

But he said he thought Mrs Hart’s delay in any potential funding was just a minor delay. He added: “I think at some point it will get done.”

The president of the Chepstow Vintage Club, Bob Powell, said there is an urgent need for traffic to be resolved in Bulwark and at the Bulwark junction particularly: “Why they can’t put a one way system there I don’t know. There’s plenty of opportunity.”

And he also supported any move to build a bypass in the town.

He added: “I think it would be a great advantage if they could put one in Chepstow. They’ve been planning it for donkey’s years. When they built Bulwark apparently they left a right way through the estate (for a new road) but it has been going on for a long time.

“It is a problem in Chepstow.”

As part of running the club, Mr Powell occasionally drives tractors through the town. He said it was hit-and-miss as to whether he could get around Chepstow without being caught up in traffic.

Welsh Government officers are considering a number of other measures. They include reviewing traffic signals on the A48 by the town’s Tesco supermarket; stopping lorries from driving over the Wye Bridge or incorporating a toll system; and changing the High Beech Roundabout.

Any conclusions to the studies are expected by the end of the year.