The last traffic cone and contraflow have been removed from the A465 Heads of the Valleys road after a long, drawn-out saga.
It is Wales’ most expensive road building project ever. And now, 23 years after the work began, traffic can finally run smoothly again in an area that has caused traffic misery for motorists.
With the last traffic cone and contraflow being removed from the A465 Heads of the Valleys road, it marked the completion of a 28-mile upgrade which began in 2002 and cost £2 billion. Welsh Government minister Jane Hutt had described the project as “one of the most significant infrastructure investments in the whole of the UK.”
Work to convert the A465 into a dual carriageway began in 2002 and has been carried out in stages ever since.
The road links the M4 by Neath with the A40 dual carriageway at Abergavenny and ultimately the Midlands of England. The final stage of the project, the section between Hirwaun and Dowlais, began in 2001.
Now complete, 17.7km of new dual carriageway has been put in place, along with 6.1km of side roads, more than 14km of active travel routes, 38 new culverts to channel water, 30 new bridges and 28 retaining walls.
The new road will be a 70mph dual carriageway with six junctions.
The Welsh Government says the scheme has created more than 2,000 new jobs, with over half of those employed living in the local area. It has also hired 158 apprentices, with just under half from the region, thereby supporting education and skills training.
In addition to economic benefits, the project has also created a series of environmental benefits, according to the Welsh Government.