A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

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Octaviadriver
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by Octaviadriver »

Today I went along the section eastbound from the A470 roundabout to Dowlais Top and back and all the S2+1 section is now coned off to to a single lane in both directions with road markings painted to follow the new layout. Also, both the junctions at Cefn Coed that were only accessible to and from from the left with no right turns onto opposite carriageway now have mini-roundabouts so that traffic can now turn right and so each junction can be accessed to and from all directions. I'm not quite sure why they've done this and can only think that if one is temporarily closed when work gets underway, traffic can still have access via the other.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by Hdeng16 »

Octaviadriver wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 19:55 Today I went along the section eastbound from the A470 roundabout to Dowlais Top and back and all the S2+1 section is now coned off to to a single lane in both directions with road markings painted to follow the new layout. Also, both the junctions at Cefn Coed that were only accessible to and from from the left with no right turns onto opposite carriageway now have mini-roundabouts so that traffic can now turn right and so each junction can be accessed to and from all directions. I'm not quite sure why they've done this and can only think that if one is temporarily closed when work gets underway, traffic can still have access via the other.
That’s basically what they did early on in the other sections. The mini roundabouts serve the purpose you suggested but also allow works traffic to turn around and access various works areas faster
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by Bryn666 »

Hdeng16 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 22:51
Octaviadriver wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 19:55 Today I went along the section eastbound from the A470 roundabout to Dowlais Top and back and all the S2+1 section is now coned off to to a single lane in both directions with road markings painted to follow the new layout. Also, both the junctions at Cefn Coed that were only accessible to and from from the left with no right turns onto opposite carriageway now have mini-roundabouts so that traffic can now turn right and so each junction can be accessed to and from all directions. I'm not quite sure why they've done this and can only think that if one is temporarily closed when work gets underway, traffic can still have access via the other.
That’s basically what they did early on in the other sections. The mini roundabouts serve the purpose you suggested but also allow works traffic to turn around and access various works areas faster
Pretty much exactly this. You may recall the U-turn at Brynmawr which took several inattentive eastbound drivers by surprise when first installed!
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

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Last week, I walked along the Taff Trail from Cyfarthfa Retail Park to the bridge over the A465 whilst SWMBO was shopping. Work is progressing and I took these photos:-
IMG_20211021_121457581_HDR.jpg
The above was taken from the Cefn Coed Viaduct of the Roundabout where the A465 and A470 cross. The men are working on the hill well above the level of the current roads.
IMG_20211021_120155318_HDR.jpg
This was from the Taff Trail bridge over the A465 looking east. There are some extensive works going on where they're cutting into the hill.
IMG_20211021_120631209_HDR.jpg
And this is looking west from the Taff trail bridge over the A465. It's not the best of photos but it was the only point I could get a clear shot around the wire mesh. The bridge is the old railway bridge that carried the Brecon to Merthyr Tydfil line and I'd guess it carried very little traffic between the opening of the Merthyr Tydfil bypass and the closure of the line. They are building the road up on the left hand side of the road here and the bridge that you can just about see in the photo that carries the A4065 over the A465 is currently closed.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by thegadgetlad »

For anyone interested in the Section 5 & 6 scheme, I've posted an update video on my YouTube channel, A465 updates https://youtu.be/qK6FRRL4waU

Notable recent progress includes vegetation clearance at Croesbychan, and works to prepare for new temporary roundabouts at Taf Fechan and Pant Junction.
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AAndy
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

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A couple of photos from this week looking East from near the A470.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by AAndy »

Well worth an inspection these days. This is the most exciting phase I feel of the heads of the valleys dualling, what with the engineering and scope of works caused by such deep valley floors.

I will be putting up a new video later this weekend but a few photos around the A470/A465 intersection for now.
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pillars at a470 A465 B.jpg
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AAndy
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by AAndy »

some more.
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jeremai
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by jeremai »

Excellent photos, Andy. That's a great vantage point in the first two, although I guess it won't be accessible for much longer as the works progress.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by AAndy »

:).. Worth going at a quiet time. I parked here https://w3w.co/river.buck.wage for the first 2 pics and walked down on the safe side of the barrier. There are plenty of places to stop all along if you reccy first.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by AAndy »

Video here: https://youtu.be/s4ZqHpqaJBE ...... starts off driving down the A470 south bound to the roundabout with the A465, Turn left to Dowlais Top with a brief L after the crane. It is in real time and it is 30 minutes long :D (the 4k version is still being processed atm)
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by Octaviadriver »

Great photos and video from Andy (as always).

We'll not being visiting Merthyr Tydfil again until the New Year (subject to lockdown provisions, of course). I'm looking forward to see how it's getting on. As I've mentioned before, I walk from Cyfarthfa Retail Park along the Taff Trail and over the Cefn Coed Viaduct where you have a good view of the A465/A470 junction.
https://goo.gl/maps/wSAQogBX3maBmQvm6
The old railway bridge over the A465 gives good views of the work to the east of the A470 junction.
https://goo.gl/maps/KuKjsupYp3Yis7Q39
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jeremai
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by jeremai »

The Dowlais Top roundabout was replaced with two temporary roundabouts last night for construction of the new junction:

Image

A general view this morning of the A470 junction and River Taff crossing from Cefn Coed Viaduct:
Image

And detail of work for the new bridge:
Image

Eastbound view from Cefn Coed (the works have taken over a surprisingly vast area of the hill!):
Image
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by AAndy »

Thanks Jeremai, excellent.. The 'general view' is superb....from the viaduct I guess [y]

And I've heard that double roundabout is causing mayhem with traffic congesting right up ... they might have to rethink that design.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by jeremai »

Yes, the general view is from the viaduct. It's still not a great view of the A470 junction site (there's not really any way to get near it as a pedestrian) but it should get a bit more interesting as works progress.

The double roundabout was indeed causing mayhem a couple of hours ago when I had to queue up the hill through Dowlais. It could be an interesting rush hour tomorrow! I dare say things will settle down slightly as people get used to it and / or learn to avoid it.

The lack of signage won't be helping those unfamiliar with the area, espcially at the moment as the layout doesn't tie up with what Google Maps / satnav shows. There has been literally no temporary directional signage set up.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by Octaviadriver »

I followed in Jeremai's footsteps along the Taff Trail yesterday to see how work is progressing and took some photos, though they don't look very different from his pictures that were taken two months ago.

A470 junction and River Taff crossing from Cefn Coed Viaduct. You can see they're starting to build the pillars for the new bridge at the A470 junction and the valley to the west of the junction.
IMG_20220315_112054949.jpg
Eastbound view from Cefn Coed.
IMG_20220315_115657305.jpg
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by jeremai »

Thanks for the updates. Visually things haven't changed much. There's still no sign of any excavation for the new junction at Dowlais Top despite the temporary roundabouts having been in place for two months now. Obviously it's a massive project and there's plenty of activity going on; I'm not suggesting otherwise. I'll just have to be patient until new structures start appearing!

They are installing a temporary footbridge at Cefn Coed next weekend prior to demolition of the existing High Street bridge. This may open up some new views of the works.
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by SteveA30 »

Will the existing A465 bridge in the top photo be retained for cyclists/walkers, on seperate paths?
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by Riley »

SteveA30 wrote: Wed Mar 16, 2022 16:58 Will the existing A465 bridge in the top photo be retained for cyclists/walkers, on seperate paths?
I believe that will effectively become the westbound off-slip to the A470 roundabout.

https://gov.wales/cefn-coed
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Re: A465 Heads Of The Valleys Dualling; Dowlais Top To Hirwaun

Post by Chris5156 »

Riley wrote: Wed Mar 16, 2022 17:43
SteveA30 wrote: Wed Mar 16, 2022 16:58 Will the existing A465 bridge in the top photo be retained for cyclists/walkers, on seperate paths?
I believe that will effectively become the westbound off-slip to the A470 roundabout.

https://gov.wales/cefn-coed
It’s a real shame they’re not building the new parallel bridges in a matching style. You can see new piers being installed behind it that are far bigger and in very different places. The existing bridge is a small scale copy of the M2 Medway Bridge - it was built immediately after the Medway one, and by the same team, who suggested that design instead of the one originally planned. It’s very graceful.
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