RENEWED calls for a new road to bypass Chepstow and ease the area’s chronic traffic congestion have divided councillors representing the town.

Commuters heading in and out of Chepstow face daily gridlock with drivers crossing the M48 Severn Bridge, in and out of Wales, as well as facing a bottleneck on the A48 that cuts through the town and heads out into England over the river Wye.

Representatives on the English side of the rivers Wye and Severn have highlighted a Forest of Dean gateway road, serving as a Chepstow bypass, for traffic crossing between Wales and England, as a potential solution.

Monmouthshire County Council, which was then under Conservative control, and neighbours Gloucestershire had agreed to fund a business case for a bypass in March 2022 but progress stalled.

Though most of the route would be in England the plans put forward in 2022 would have required upgrading parts of the road network around the Thornwell area of Chepstow and the Labour administration that took over at Monmouthshire council in May 2022 hasn’t been as keen on the plan while Welsh Government support is uncertain.

The proposed road would cross they Wye, south of the existing A48 bridge, and head back towards the A48 south of Sedbury.

Forest of Dean Labour MP Matt Bishop recently said he would be willing to look at proposals including a road intended to bypass Chepstow while Forest of Dean District Councillor Nick Evans has said a UK Government requirement the Forest’s development blueprint be revised to accommodate 5,400 more homes is an “ideal opportunity” to reexamine the bypass plan.

But councillors representing Chepstow and district on Monmouthshire County Council are divided with Conservatives backing the bypass idea and Labour members preferring a new crossing further to the north.

Councillor Paul Griffiths, who is Monmouthshire council’s deputy leader, and ward member for Chepstow Castle and Larkfield argued a bridge nine miles upstream on the Severn, from Lydney to Sharpness would be more effective.

The Labour councillor said: “The flow of road traffic from the Forest of Dean through Chepstow causes immense problems for Chepstow residents and delays for motorists. I have seen no evidence that re-routing the traffic to another part of Chepstow by way of an expensive bridge from Sedbury to Thornwell will solve the problem. It will re-locate the congestion from High Beech roundabout to Thornwell.

“Given that the source of the traffic is largely from the developing town of Lydney, I continue to argue that replacing the former bridge from Lydney to Sharpness would be a more effective response. Such a bridge could accommodate road, rail and bikes.”

Cllr Griffiths said authorities should be “radical” and he would look forward to meeting Mr Bishop.

Bulwark and Thornwell Labour councillor Armand Watts said Mr Bishop and Monmouthshire’s Labour MP Catherine Fookes have both supported a Lydney to Sharpness crossing.

He said: “Chepstow bypass faces significant economic hurdles due to a lack of solid funding and deliverable plans. Matt Bishop, Catherine Fookes and myself have publicly endorsed the exploration of a new Severn crossing near Lydney as a potential strategic alternative, advocating for it in high-level discussions with the government.”

Conservative councillors Paul Pavia and Christopher Edwards, who represents Chepstow’s Mount Pleasant and St Kingsmark wards, and party colleague, Shirenewton councillor Louise Brown, back the by-pass plan.