A road in South Wales is set to be completed this year, 23 years since roadworks first began. The A465, also known as the Heads of the Valleys Road, is a dual carriageway that aims to reduce journey times and improve road safety. The government says the road has been one of the UK’s “largest and most technically challenging road projects”, as it is marked as the biggest road infrastructure funded by the Welsh government.
Originally constructed in the 1960s’, the Welsh government are recognising it as a “strategically important national route”, providing a key link to the Midlands, South West Wales, as well as an alternative to the parallel M4 route.
Now, almost 23 years after the construction started, the Head of the Valleys has a completion date after years of delays.
Sean Keyes, CEO at Sutcliffe, predicts that the project will face numerous ecological challenges, which could lead to delays.
“Large infrastructure projects, particularly roads, take a considerable amount of time to complete due to the need for multiple approvals before starting work. These include planning permissions, highways approvals, ecological surveys and design approvals. Even then, unforeseen issues can arise when on site, such as the need to manage animals like water voles, hedgehogs, bees and certain types of birds, requiring a specific survey from an appropriate officer to proceed.
“Something as straightforward as a hedgehog or vole survey can significantly impact the progress of a major road project, causing it to flounder. Additionally, meeting 40-50 pre-start panning conditions is not uncommon. However, the approval process can be so lengthy that by the time all conditions are met, they may already be outdated – requiring the process to start over. Take the recent news about the expansion of Heathrow Airport and the surrounding road network, for example. This project is likely to face numerous ecological challenges, along with complex planning and bureaucracy issues, which could lead to delays much like the A465 project in Wales.”
The project initially started in March of 2002, with construction first between Tredegar and Dowlais Top. The Welsh Government believes that the Head of the Valleys upgrade will drive investment in the area by improving the overall accessibility. According to the gov.wales website, the scheme was invented initially to support additional investment in social and economic infrastructure projects, as well as help improve public services in Wales.
The project is expected to be completed in Summer 2025, with the entire infrastructure estimated to cost £1bn.
