Hardwick Gyratory

This article is about the gyratory between the A40, A465, A4042 and B4598 near Abergavenny.
For the roundabout near Kings Lynn between the A10, A47 and A149, see Hardwick Roundabout.
For the interchange on the A428 west of Cambridge, see Hardwick Interchange.

The Hardwick Gyratory (unnamed on signs) is a major interchange on the A40 close to Abergavenny in south-east Wales, the only Welsh junction to have trunk roads radiating from it in more than four directions.

The fork shown in 1956

In 1922 the site was home to a simple fork junction – lying immediately to the west of the more southerly of the two railway bridges which today span the site – between the A471 and the B4245 (which had become the A4125 by the end of the 20s). In 1935, the A4042 was extended over the A4125, and the A40 was diverted from its original route between Ross and Abergavenny by way of Skenfrith to run instead via Monmouth, Raglan, and this junction.

One year later, in 1936, the A4042-A465 North-South route from Newport to Hereford was trunked, using the A40 north of this junction to link the two. The A40 route was trunked in 1946, as was the A465 west of Abergavenny town centre.

The roundabout shown in 1967 after the Heads of the Valleys Road had opened in 1962

The junction became a roundabout in 1962, when the A465 Heads of the Valleys road (later dualled at this point) was diverted to it via a southern bypass of Abergavenny. Then, in the early 1970s, a new eastern bypass of the town was opened from here, taking the northbound A465 along a route on the eastern side of the railway line. With the A40 from Raglan having in the meantime been upgraded to follow a new alignment (the old route becoming the B4598), there were now six routes converging on Hardwick – five of them on trunk roads – necessitating a major expansion of the junction between them all. This was accomplished by constructing a large "balloon" extension of the eastern side of the original roundabout, incorporating a second underpass of the railway about 140 metres north of the first bridge, and the result was today's gyratory system.

Despite plans to grade-separate others on the Heads of the Valleys route, none exists as yet for any alteration to this junction, the road's eastern terminus.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A40	Y Fenni / Abergavenny, Aberhonddu / Brecon
A40	Rhaglan / Raglan, Trefynwy / Monmouth	For M50 The Midlands For Hereford gan osgoi pont isel / avoiding low bridge
A465	Hereford	Cyfyngiad uchder mewn 12 milltir / Height restriction in 12 miles (4.4 m / 14'3")
A465	Merthyr Tudful / Merthyr Tydfil	For B4246 Llan-ffwyst Fawr / Llanfoist, Blaenafon / Blaenavon
A4042	Pontypŵl / Pontypool, Cwmbrân, Casnewydd / Newport
B4598	Brynbuga / Usk	Cerbydau ysgafn yn unig / Light vehicles only