Asked what he would say to accusations of a U-turn, Skates added: “Well, it’s a world away from where we were in 2019.
“Back then, we had come out of the EU, Brexit was causing enormous concern, we were planning for a no deal.
“We were… almost a decade into austerity. There was simply not the sort of money that was required to build the black route available to the Welsh government.
“It was right not to go ahead with it at the time because of the financial cost. I do believe firmly that had we gone ahead with it, it would have been paused or cancelled during Covid.”
Skates said he wanted to know from the Welsh government what the status was now of the protected route for the relief road – which was ditched after the scheme was axed.
In a debate on 29 September, Deputy Transport Minister Mark Hooper said the black route was not achievable.
“The protected route status went when it was cancelled,” he said.
“So, we’re talking about decades of work to even get that off the ground.”
Skates spoke ahead of the Co-operative Movement conference on Saturday, where he will say that people in the region “should be trusted, empowered and respected in deciding what affects them”.
“Their need for congestion to be dealt with can only realistically be met through getting to work on a relief road.
“The debate over an appropriate solution and the balancing of environmental, human and economic concerns should be led by the people of the region, who know best what is needed in and for their communities.”
Local Plaid Cymru MS, Peredur Owen Griffiths, who represents Casnewydd Islwyn, said Labour’s “hypocrisy is astounding”.
“It’s as if they’ve forgotten they were in government for 27 years and scrapped plans to address the issue of congestion in and around Newport – only to now U-turn in opposition,” he said.
“Plaid Cymru is clear that doing nothing isn’t an option… the action we’re considering could reduce traffic by 10% in just four years,” he said.
