Road to shut as workers fix fire-damaged mountain

Commuters, hospital patients and delivery drivers have been told journey times could be up to four times longer as a key link road is shut for three months as engineers try to fix a mountain.

Motorists and cyclists have been warned it could take up to five months to reopen the A4061 between Hirwaun and Treherbert, causing "outrage" locally.

There has been a rockfall risk since a 2022 grass fire damaged the protective netting on the slopes of the 491m (1,610ft) Rhigos mountain in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The road will close from Monday as engineers attempt to make the mountain safe in a £2.5m project, with the council saying it needed to start the work while the days were longer and the weather was drier.

"This is a key link for people and there was outrage when the closure was announced," said councillor Karen Morgan.

To drive the nine miles between Hirwaun and Treherbert over the Rhigos mountain pass can take less than 20 minutes on a good day.

Ms Morgan, the Plaid Cymru opposition leader on Rhondda Cynon Taf council, warned that could take significantly longer after Monday's closure.

"It'll be long and it's already often gridlocked so the concern is with the added traffic, tailbacks are expected to be worse," she said.

She said one woman in Treherbert hold told her the closure would turn her 10-minute commute to work "into an hour-long journey in each direction".

Who is affected by Rhigos mountain road closure?

A wildfire the size of about 300 football pitches on Rhigos mountain in 2023

Hospital patients and expectant parents on the south of the closure, have been warned the journey to their nearest hospital in Merthyr Tydfil will be longer.

With the 12-week closure of the neonatal and maternity ward at Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital from September, Ms Morgan said many expectant mums from the upper Rhondda would be using thematernity unit at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

"But they're concerned as the Rhigos road closure means their journeys to hospital will be longer and possibly more stressful," she added.

Roadworks on the A465 Heads of the Valleys between Merthyr Tydfil and Hirwaun are already causing traffic chaos

For residents in Hirwaun, on the north of the closure, it is another traffic headache.

The village is on the western end of a four-year, £600m project to make the A465 a dual carriageway, meaning road works and contraflows.

Ms Morgan, who represents Hirwaun, Penderyn and Rhigos, said: "This will make it worse. Takeaway delivery drivers, taxis... you can't get them to come to Hirwaun because of the traffic chaos.

"Going from Hirwaun to Merthyr used to take less than 20 minutes, now it can take an hour at any time of the day because you can't predict when there'll be congestion."

The A465 between Hirwaun and Cefn Coed in Merthyr is shut completely next weekend between 20:00 BST on Friday and 06:00 on Monday, making the mountain road closur "feel like just another thing to deal with".

The council has reassured parents and carers that arrangements have been made with their Home to School Transport team when children return to classrooms in September.

When is the A4016 at Rhigos shut?

Rocks fell on to the A4061 Rhigos mountain road following the fire in 2022

Engineers say the work is due to finish at the end of October but warned the road closure could last until Christmas if there are delays.

"We must start this work soon, not later in the year, to make the most of daylight hours and drier weather," said the council.

"The further into the year the work starts, the longer it will take to complete due to declining weather and daylight hours.

"If this work isn't started soon it will result in a future emergency closure and for much longer than the project length."

Why is the Rhigos mountain road shutting?

The council said the 2022 summer blaze damaged a significant area of the mountainside, including fencing, wire and plastic netting

It said emergency work initially allowed the road to open with temporary traffic lights – directing vehicles away from the high risk areas, but now engineers insist they need to close a 375-metre (1,230ft) section to do the work.

Engineers added the road has limited width and contractors need to use specialist access equipment to secure the rock face, install new netting and anchor blocks, some of which weigh 50,000kg.

"The road must be closed as falling rocks pose a danger, machinery used is too large to accommodate road traffic alongside it and work must be carried out in daylight hours because it is not safe to do this at night," said the council.

What are the Rhigos diversion routes?

Both drivers and cyclists will have to use a different route which could be three times as long and is about twice the distance.

The advised diversion is for drivers to use the A4233 between Tylorstown and Aberdare over the Maerdy mountain and the B4275 between Aberdare and Hirwaun.

Emergency vehicles, drivers and cyclists will not be able to use Rhigos road but experienced walkers can use the public right of way beneath.