A470 road

A470
The A470dual carriagewayatPontypridd.
Route information
Maintained by North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency and South Wales Trunk Road Agency
Length	186 mi (299 km)
Major junctions
From	Cardiff
Major intersections	A4119 A4160 A48 A469 M4 A4054 A468 A4058 A4223 A4059 A472 A4060 A4102 A465 A4215 A40 A479 A483 A4081 A44 A489 A458 A487 A494 A5 A55 A547
To	Llandudno
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Primary destinations	Pontypridd Merthyr Tydfil Brecon Builth Wells Rhayader Llangurig Dolgellau Blaenau Ffestiniog Betws-y-Coed
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
←A469 →A472

TheA470(also named theCardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road)is atrunk roadinWales.It is the country's longest road at 186 miles (299 km) and links the capitalCardiffon the south coast toLlandudnoon the north coast.While previously one had to navigate the narrow roads ofLlanidloesandDolgellau,both these market towns are now bypassed due to extensive road modernisation.The 26 miles (42 km) from Cardiff Bay toMerthyr Tydfilare mainlydual carriageway,but most of the route from north of Merthyr to Llandudno issingle carriageway.

Route

National parks

The road travels through two of thenational parks of Wales:theBrecon Beacons,andSnowdonia National Parkstarting just south ofDinas Mawddwy.

Cardiff Bay – Merthyr Tydfil

North Road (Cardiff) tidal flow system, a 3-lane single carriageway

The southernmost point of the route is inCardiff Bay,outside theWales Millennium Centre.It runs upLloyd George Avenue(this was previously Collingdon Road, and the A470 previously ran along the parallelBute Street), and continues along St. Mary Street in centralCardiff.The road then becomes North Road, and after atidal flowsystem running toMaindyand then goes over the flyover at theGabalfainterchange of theA48and theA469.It becomes an urban dual-carriageway along Manor Way, with a 30 mph (48 km/h) speed limit and with many traffic-signalled crossings. It passes without interruption under theM4at the giantCorytonroundabout. For the next 15 miles (24 km) it is a modern high-speed dual carriageway by-passingTongwynlaisandCastell Coch,Taff's Well,toPontypridd.Heading north toAbercynon,the road now follows the route of theTaff Vale RailwaysLlancaiach Branchto Quakers Yard roundabout,where it is joined by the A4059 fromAbercynon,AberdareandHirwaun;theA472fromYstrad MynachandPontypoolfinally the A4054 fromQuakers Yard,andMerthyr Tydfil.

From Quakers Yard roundabout (locally known as "Fiddlers Elbow" ), 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of dual carriageway takes the road to the Pentrebach roundabout where the A4060 links, and then to the Merthyr Tydfil roundabout where the road meets theA465and the dual carriageway ends. A twisting section alongside theTaf Fawrreservoirs ofLlwyn-on,CantrefandBeaconstakes the road to its highest point atStorey Armson the pass over theBrecon Beaconsbefore a long descent toBrecon.

Merthyr Tydfil – Builth Wells

The A470 atBwlch Oerddrws,between Dinas Mawddwy and Dolgellau

The remainder of the route north of Brecon consists of older routes now renamed "A470". This artificiality is apparent as a driver following the entire route north to south must diverge from the main line of respective stretches of road no fewer than five times. A short three lane stretch heads north east before a sharp left turn is required to stay on the road. From this point on the road becomes narrow and twisting and overtaking is problematic except at a few straight sections. Another sharp left turn at a stop sign inLlyswentakes the road alongside theRiver WyeintoBuilth Wells.

Builth Wells – Mallwyd

The A470 snaking across Bwlch Oerddrws seen fromMaesglase

The road continues to follow the Wye to the busy crossroads where it meets the A44 in the centre ofRhayader.On reachingLlangurig,a right turn outside the village takes the road pastLlanidloesand throughLlandinam,the birthplace ofDavid Daviesand now the headquarters ofGirl Guides Wales.Another anomalous left turn at alevel crossingsets the path forCaersws,CarnoandLlanbrynmair.Just beyond the village ofTalerddigthe road descends and crosses under theShrewsbury–Aberystwyth railway line.The long descent towardsCommins Cochis a relatively new stretch of road that replaced a set of road-works that had traffic light controlled single lane working for over 10 years because of unstable ground conditions. The river bridge atCommins Cochis so narrow and set at such an angle that only one vehicle at a time can pass. AtCemmaes Roadthe road joins theA487at a roundabout. A right turn at the roundabout takes the road on toMallwydwhere theA458joins at yet another roundabout.

Mallwyd – Llandudno

The country becomes more forested and the road climbs up throughDinas Mawddwyand then steeply up the eastern foot-hills ofCadair Idrisbefore dropping down to theDolgellauby-pass. More sharp twists and turns in the forestry and through the village ofGanllwydbrings the road up onto the high plateau of the Cambrian dome where the road follows the ancient track ofSarn HelenRoman road passing the redundant nuclear power station atTrawsfynydd.A right turn beyond the power station takes the road on toFfestiniogandBlaenau Ffestiniogbefore heading over theCrimea PasstoDolwyddelan.A sharp left turn interrupts the A470 as it becomes theA5for a short distance towardsBetws-y-Coedbefore turning right again back onto the A470 just beforeWaterloo Bridge.Passing down the valley of theRiver Conwythe road passes throughLlanrwst,Tal-y-CafnandGlan Conwy,at which point there is a dual roundabout that intersects with theA55North Wales Expressway before descending intoLlandudno.The northernmost point of the route is inLlandudnoitself at the sea front, where it meets the North Shore Parade, theA547.

Junctions

This list is for the section between Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil.

A470 (T)
Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
Newport,BridgendM4,TongwynlaisA4054	M4 Junction 32 – Coryton Interchange	Start of A470 (T)
Taff's Well,TongwynlaisA4054,RadyrB4262	Taff's Well Interchange	Taff's Well,TongwynlaisA4054,RadyrB4262
Treforest Industrial Estate,Taff's WellA4054,CaerphillyA468	Nantgarw Interchange	Treforest Industrial Estate,Taff's WellA4054,CaerphillyA468
Treforest Industrial Estate,Taff's WellA4054,LlantrisantA473	Upper Boat Interchange	Treforest Industrial Estate,Taff's WellA4054,LlantrisantA473
Llantrisant(A473)	Glyntaff Interchange	No access
Pontypridd,Rhondda ValleysA4058	Broadway Interchange	No access
No access	Bridge Street Interchange	PontypriddA4223,Rhondda Valleys(A4058), Ynys-y-bwl (B4273),Llantrisant(A473)
AbercynonB4275	Abercynon Interchange	No access
Mountain Ash,AberdareA4059,Ystrad Mynachhttps://www.roads.org.uk/motorway/a470/130,AberfanA4054	Abercynon Roundabout	Mountain Ash,AberdareA4059,Ystrad MynachA472
PentrebachA4060,Abergavenny(A465)	Abercanaid Roundabout	PentrebachA4060,Abergavenny(A465)
Rhyd-y-carA4102	Orbit Roundabout	Rhyd-y-carA4102
Merthyr Tydfiltown centreA4102	Swansea Road Roundabout	Merthyr Tydfiltown centreA4102
Neath,AbergavennyA465,BreconA470	Cefn Coed Roundabout	Start of A470 (T)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access

History

Taff's Well Interchange during construction in November 1971

Modern route

The modern route of the A470 arose from a campaign in the 1970s by theWestern Mailfor a single route connecting North and South Wales, in the lead up to the1979 Welsh devolution referendum.It was successful, and in 1978, the Welsh Office discussed a potential course of the road roughly through the centre of the country, which was implemented the following year.

Original route

The route fromCardifftoBreconwas the original A470.It originally ran into Brecon town centre and joined theA40 road.The old A470 between the by-pass and the town, along Newgate Street, is now the B4601. A4062 was the number for the section from the junction of the A40 and the B4601 – the Brecon (eastern) bypass to B4602 section. The B4601 was originally the A40 which ran through the town of Brecon. Similarly, the B4602 was originally the westernmost part of the A438.

The A470 passing through Rhayader

Original road numbers

Brecon – Llangurig

The A438 was the original number for the road from the junction with B4602 to the sharp left turn where A470 turns north in the vicinity ofLlanfilo.The A438 continues on from there toHerefordandTewkesbury.From north of Llanfilo toLlyswenwas the A4073. A479 originally linked the A40 west ofCrickhowellto theA44 roadatRhayader.The A479 now runs only from Crickhowell to Llyswen. The stretch from Rhayader toLlangurigwas the A44. Officially, this is now part of the A470,but some local signage shows A44/A470.

Llangurig – Mallwyd

From Llangurig to Moat Lane (east ofCaersws), it was once part of the A492, which originally ran from Llangurig toNewtown.The section Moat Lane to Newtown has since been renumbered A489, and from Moat Lane toGlantwymynthe A470 replaced the A489 which ran all the way fromMachynllethto theA49 roadnorth ofCraven Armsin southShropshire.Now the A489 designation applies to two roads separated by 17 miles (27 km) of the A470. The stretch between Glantwymyn to Mallwyd was called the A4084.

Dolgellau

Originally starting at the Cross Foxes nearDolgellauthe A458 now runs only from Mallwyd toShrewsbury.It now starts at Mallwyd with the Mallwyd to Cross Foxes section being the A470. Cross Foxes to near Gellilydan (in theMeirionyddpart ofGwyneddsouth ofFfestiniog) brings us to a complicated series of route renumbering. This stretch was originally the A487 which ran through Dolgellau town centre. The modern A470 bypasses the town using the line of the oldRuabon – Morfa Mawddach railway.

Gellilydan – Llandudno

Gellilydan via Llan Ffestiniog toBlaenau Ffestiniog(Congl-y-Wal) was not originally allocated a number. The section from Blaenau Ffestiniog toBetws-y-Coedwas the B4407, and from there toLlandudnowas the A544.By 1946, the A496 had become extended to Llandudno.

The section of road from Glan Conwy corner to Llandudno is a new well aligned direct route to Llandudno. The old A496 has been renumbered A547 between Glan Conwy and Llandudno Junction and A546 between Llandudno Junction and Llandudno. The A496 now numbers only the Dolgellau – Blaenau Ffestiniog coast road.

Cultural references

In 2014,Cerys Matthewspresented a documentary on the A470 onBBC Radio 4,journeying from the north of the country to Cardiff Bay.The programme described the road as "theM1 motorwayof Wales ", despite most of the road being rural single-carriageway, with Matthews stopping off at places like Llanrwst and Rhayader.

In March 2022, Arachne Press publishedA470: Poems for the Road / Cerddi’r Ffordd,a bilingual English and Welsh book of poems about the A470, edited by Siân Northey and Ness Owen.Published onSt. David's Day,by June of that year it had its second reprint.

Other references in Welsh popular culture include:

• a 1993 song byGeraint Lövgreen
• a video and photo exhibition in 2001
• a bi-monthly magazine, subtitledWhat's on in Literary Wales

See also

• Trunk roads in Wales

External links

• "A470".SABRE.Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts.