Essential maintenance work planned for A465 at Neath

Motorists are being advised that essential maintenance on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road bridge over the Neath Interchange will be taking place this summer, and to plan their journeys accordingly.

The works, which are being carried out on behalf of the South Wales Trunk Road Agent (SWTRA) for the Welsh Government, are being undertaken on the A465 at Salting’s Viaduct and are scheduled to begin on Friday 15th July, lasting 13 weeks. The expected finish date is Friday 14th October.

Vital maintenance is now due, with the last major programme of works having been undertaken in 1996, and will focus on the bridge expansion joints.

Thousands of vehicles use the bridge every day and as such every effort is being made to minimise inconvenience to road users. Nightly road closures between 7pm and 6am throughout the duration of the works will allow the majority of the work to take place when there is less traffic.

At these times the A465 will be closed between the junctions of the off-slip and on-slip and traffic will be diverted across the roundabout. During the road closure, signed local diversions will be in place and advance notification signs will be on all affected approaches.

There will be a reduction in speed limits in place on the A465 for the duration of the works enforced by speed cameras and queues are likely during peak periods.

In addition to the night time closures there are 6 weekend closures planned to allow for tasks that cannot be undertaken during the night. The dates of the planned closures are as follows:

Weekend 1   15th July 7pm            –           18th July 6am            Westbound

Weekend 2   6th Aug 10pm           –           7th Aug 6pm              Eastbound

7th Aug 6am                                     –           7th Aug 4pm              Westbound

Weekend 3   19th Aug 7pm            –           22nd Aug 6am           Westbound

Weekend 4   2nd Sep 7pm              –           5th Sep 6am              Eastbound

Weekend 5   24th Sep 10pm          –           25th Sep 6pm                        Westbound

25th Sep 6am                                    –           25th Sep 4pm                        Eastbound

Weekend 6   7th Oct 7pm               –           10th Oct 6am             Eastbound

The dates given above are the proposed programme and these dates could be subject to change if works progress quicker than anticipated. Advance notices will be in place to advertise the weekend closures and any changes to the programme. Please visit www.traffic-wales.com for up to date information and follow @TrafficWalesS on Twitter for the latest updates.