The A465 is a major road in South Wales. It is more commonly known as the Heads of the Valleys Road because it joins together the north ends of the South Wales Valleys. A typical rural county road in Indiana, USA, where traffic drives on the right. ... Approximate extent of South Wales South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the East and South, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the North and West. ... The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales. ...

It runs south west from Hereford, England, into Wales via Abergavenny and Brynmawr, then continues along the heads of the valleys, past Ebbw Vale, Tredegar, Rhymney, Merthyr Tydfil and Hirwaun, then bypasses Neath before terminating at its junction with the M4 motorway. The highest point of 1350ft is on the Ebbw Vale section. It now has a new dual carridgeway and slip roads between Dowlais Top and Tredegar via Rhymney. At Dowlais Top there are link roads such as the A4060, which runs down to the south end of Merthyr Tydfil and links with the A470, and the A4054 which goes through Merthyr Vale and Aberfan. Another link is the A4102 which leads into Dowlais and Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre. Finally, the A465 passes Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil (great view of Pen Y Fan from here) then continues to Cefn Coed y cymmer (North End of Merthyr Tydfil) then leads to the A470 link and then continues down the west side of the valley to Neath. Hereford Cathedral Hereford (pronounced hěr-ə-füd or hěr-i-füd) Welsh: Henffordd (pronounced Henforth) is a city in the west of England, close to the border with Wales and on the River Wye. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom, England and Wales and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. ... Brynmawr (Bryn-mawr) is a market town in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, traditional county of Brecknockshire, mid Wales. ... Ebbw Vale (Welsh: Glyn Ebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr river in south Wales. ... Tredegar is a town in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, traditional county of Monmouthshire, lying on the Sirhowy River in southern Wales, United Kingdom. ... Rhymney is a town located in the county borough of Caerphilly, traditional county of Monmouthshire, south Wales, United Kingdom. ... Merthyr Tydfil (Welsh: Merthyr Tudful) is a town and county borough in the traditional county of Glamorgan, south Wales, with a population of about 55,000. ... Hirwaun is the name of an electoral ward, a community, and a mining village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the South Wales Valleys. ... Neath (Welsh: Castell-Nedd) is a town and community with a population of approximately 45,898, located on the river of the same name (Welsh: Afon Nedd) in the traditional county of Glamorgan, south Wales. ... The M4 motorway is a motorway in the UK, which links London and west Wales via Bristol. ... The A470 is a major road in Wales, running from Cardiff to Llandudno. ...

Major upgrade scheme

In 1994, the possibility was raised of upgrading of the A465 to 2-lane dual carriageway standard with grade-separated junctions (and extra climbing lanes on certain hills) between Abergavenny and Hirwaun, a 25 mile (40 km) stretch connecting the existing A465 dual-carriageway link to Swansea and the M4 motorway to the A40 which is an important part of the link to the M50 motorway and much of England. Much of the land on the route is undulating, but despite this, the preferred route alignment is considered to be high standard and will allow most of the route to have the national speed limit applying (i.e. 70 mph for cars, 60 mph for coaches and 50 mph for HGVs.) This early German Autobahn uses a dual carriageway design. ... An example of a four-level stack interchange in the Netherlands. ... This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. ... Hirwaun is the name of an electoral ward, a community, and a mining village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the South Wales Valleys. ... Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe, mouth of the Tawe) is a city and county in South Wales, situated on the coast immediately to the east of the Gower Peninsula. ... The M4 motorway is a motorway in the UK, which links London and west Wales via Bristol. ... The A40 is a trunk road in England and Wales, connecting London to Fishguard. ... The M50 The M50 motorway in England & Wales runs for twenty-one miles westward from the M5 motorway just north of Tewkesbury, to meet the A40 road and A449 road at Ross-on-Wye. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... A speed limit is the maximum speed allowed by law for vehicles on a road. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ... Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) is a generic and formal designation in British English for classification of large road vehicles intended to carry goods. ...

The scheme was split up into 7 sections, with sections 6 and 7 later being combined into a single scheme for the purposes of construction.

Construction works began on section 4 (Tredegar to Dowlais Top) in early Spring 2002, and were completed by November 2004.

Construction of section 1 (Abergavenny to Gilwern) began in February 2005. This section is a largely on-line upgrade of the existing single-carriageway road. This section is expected to be completed before the end of 2007.

The other sections do not have fixed start dates. Sections 2 (Gilwern to Brynmawr) and 3 (Brynmawr to Tredegar) are likely to be next to be constructed.

The whole dualling scheme is not expected to be completed before 2009.

External links

• Welsh Assembly scheme - A465 Abergavenny to Hirwaun dualling