ALTERNATIVE solutions to relieving congestion in Monmouthshire "must be sought urgently" after the £1.6 billion M4 relief road was rejected, according to council leader Peter Fox.

Monmouthshire councillors will be asked to call on the first minister Mark Drakeford and Transport for Wales to back several transport infrastructure proposals in the county.

These include completing a study into Chepstow’s traffic problems by the end of the year, supporting ongoing plans for a Magor railway station and prioritising upgrades to the existing Severn Tunnel Junction station.

A new phase should be added onto the South Wales Metro scheme, says Cllr Fox, in a bid to seek higher levels of service in the “neglected” area east of Newport.

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The Conservative council chief has also suggested ideas proposed by the Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe during the public inquiry should also be considered by the Welsh Government.

In a motion to full council, Cllr Fox says Mr Drakeford’s decision to scrap the construction of a new motorway around Newport, while “deeply regrettable”, had been accepted.

But he adds: “Whilst many media headlines in the immediate aftermath have focused on Newport, the implications for the south of our county are as acute.”

The next stage of the Chepstow study, which has also suggested the construction of a new road bypassing the town, will cost Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire councils more than £1 million.

A ‘walkway’ station at Magor that would encourage rail travellers to walk or cycle to and from the station has been developed by volunteers and local politicians over several years.

Independent councillor Frances Taylor will also table a motion at the meeting on June 20 regarding the case for the station.

A vocal opponent of the relief road, Cllr Taylor describes the walkway station proposals as an “exemplar in active travel and building community resilience in the face of climate change”.

The motion also calls on the Welsh Government to match fund the authority’s commitment to funding the next stage of the business case.

Mr Drakeford said there was no “compelling case in the public interest” to approve the relief road with mounting costs and the potential damage it would cause to the Gwent Levels.