A465 Upgrade Complete: A New Era for South Wales Connectivity

The A465 is now fully complete after over 23 years of it being constructed, the 25 mile strech from Hirwaun all the way to Abergavenny has now fully open with the road being at normal duel carriageway speeds.

The A465 Heads of the Valleys Road has been described by the Welsh Government as Britain's “most technically challenging” road project, in an upgrade programme costing way over £2bn.

The final phase of the project was ‘Sections 5 and 6’, from Dowlais Top to down to Hirwaun.

The Welsh Government says that final phase of construction had created over 2,000 new jobs across the UK.

The Welsh Government’s Transport secretary Ken Skates said that delivering “better transport” was a “priority”. He also mentioned that the project was “complex” and admitted that it had “not been without its challenges”.

Skates also had acknowledged that aproject on this scale was “inevitably going to have an impact on local residents” and had thanked them for their immense patience.

When it was confirmed that the road would open this year, many local business have told media that the closures have affected business, especially Damien Pearce’s business Valley Carpets in Pant Industrial Estate who told media that the road closures had “impacted [the business] massively”. But he also said the shop was now “more visible” and that the completed road would “definitely” benefit the local area.

Sam Rowlands, who is the Welsh government’s shadow transport secretary, said there would be “a huge measure of relief” for “long-suffering residents and businesses”.

“The project has taken far too long, cost far too much, and it’s clear that important lessons need to be learned,” he added.

But finance secretary and former first minister Mark Drakeford said that investing in the project had “created real benefits for local people”, that also includes over £400m for the local supply chain.