Axing plans for a third bridge between Anglesey and the mainland is an “insult” to islanders, said an MS.
A roads review has recommended the scheme is parked, despite acknowledging congestion and delays made Anglesey less attractive to investors.
Ynys Mon MS Rhun Ap Iorwerth said another Menai Strait crossing was “desperately needed” while residents have been left frustrated.
However, the Welsh government has yet to commit to the recommendation.
It said, in December, that a new crossing was likely after the enforced temporary closerue of the Menai Bridge carriageway which was in danger of falling down.
The recommended axing came with the news all major road building in Wales has been scrapped over environmental concerns.
Mr Iorwerth said, “Labour’s cancellation of the desperately needed third Menai crossing is an insult to the people of Ynys Môn.
“I support the principle of raising the bar for which road schemes should be able to progress in this era of climate concern. But a third bridge is about the basic resilience of our transport network.”
There was further criticism of the study proposals and scrapping of new schemes from the former Wales Transport Minister Ken Skates, who said the roads review stopped most investment in roads without putting in place plans for improving public transport.
The back-bencher (above) said there should never be another review that “ignores citizens”.
Deputy Transport Minister Lee Waters said ministers would work with local authorities to improve air quality.
Defending the decision, Mr Waters said Wales would not get to net-zero carbon emissions “unless we stop doing the same thing over and over”.
“None of this is easy but neither is the alternative,” he said.
The expert review panel, led by transport consultant Lynn Sloman, assessed 59 road projects and made recommendations on which projects to proceed with, which to abandon and which to reconsider in a different form.
Of these, 15 will go ahead, but all the rest have been rejected or will be substantially revised.
Mr Skates oversaw transport policy as economy minister until shortly after the last Senedd election in 2021.
Speaking to BBC Wales, the MS for Clwyd South said, “We should never have another review conducted that ignores citizens, and leads to virtually no engagement with key people and public representatives.”
Among the projects scrapped are junction improvements to the A483 around Wrexham where there are peaktime lengthy delays and congestion leading to higher exhaust emissions than in free-flowing traffic.
He says the A483 project was “planned to remove the traffic from those local roads that were polluting the air, [and] that are damaging the environment because of sky-high carbon emissions.
“I’m concerned that the panel didn’t actually engage with any communities, as far as I’m aware. It didn’t engage with locally elected members. The engagement with council highways officers was very poor.”
Commenting on the conclusion of the long-awaited road review, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Transport, Natasha Asghar MS (above) said, “Once again, we have no time frames, no targets and no funding from this Labour Government.
“The mystery, mayhem and chaos surrounding Labour’s plan for infrastructure hasn’t gone away with many people left confused as to the future of many projects across Wales.
“To make matters worse, the alternatives that Labour ministers are proposing are little more than a series of sticking plasters devoid of the real change that the people of Wales are crying out for.
“Labour must provide more clarity as to the future of infrastructure in Wales, provide meaningful improvements and stop simply kicking the economic prospects of businesses in Wales into the long grass.”
