The A479, officially also known as the Glanusk Park (Crickhowell)—Llyswen Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales. It connects

Crickhowell Crickhowell (; cy, Crucywel , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on the River Usk, on the southern edge ...

Llyswen Llyswen is a small village in Powys, Wales on the west bank of the River Wye. It was formerly within the county of Brecknockshire and now forms part of the Community of Bronllys. The nearest town is Brecon approximately to the south-west. Hi ...

via the

Rhiangoll The Rhiangoll is a river in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales. It rises on the western slopes of Waun Fach, highest point of the Black Mountains (Welsh: Y Mynyddoedd Duon) and drops steeply down to the west into the north–south ...

valley and

Talgarth Talgarth is a market town, community and electoral ward in southern Powys, Mid Wales, about north of Crickhowell, north-east of Brecon and south-east of Builth Wells. Notable buildings in the town include the 14th-century parish church and a ...

, running through the

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain ...

Route

The road starts at Glanusk Park near

and runs roughly in a northerly direction to

, where it joins the

A470 road The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate t ...

. It runs entirely within the county of

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

and is a single carriageway throughout its length. From Crickhowell to

, the road is in the

, and follows the

valley. The southern end is near

Tretower Castle Tretower Castle ( cy, Castell Tretŵr) is a Grade I-listed ruined castle in the village of Tretower in the county of Powys, Wales. It was built around the beginning of the twelfth century as a motte and bailey castle and this was probably replace ...

and

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

History

Exiting Tretower to the north - geograph

The A479 originally ran through

Builth Wells Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...

Rhayader Rhayader (; cy, Rhaeadr Gwy; ) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, within the historic county of Radnorshire. The town is from the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains, and is locate ...

. This part of the road is now the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate t ...

. A short section of road near Llyswen was realigned in 1995. A bypass of Talgarth and

Bronllys Bronllys is a village and community in Powys, Wales between the nearby towns Brecon and Talgarth. Bronllys is also the name of an electoral ward to Powys County Council. The community includes Llyswen. Description The village is in the historic ...

began construction in 2006. Part of the Talgarth bypass runs on the former

Mid-Wales Railway The Mid-Wales Railway was conceived as a trunk route through Wales connecting industrial areas in north west England with sea ports in south west Wales. The company was prevented from reaching its goal by competing proposals in Parliament, and i ...

. Because this part of the road runs through the Brecon Beacons, additional treatment was needed to minimise disruption with the nearby countryside. This included a specific alignment of the highway, and replanting of hedgerows to fit in with the existing parts of the road. The bypass opened in 2009.

Traffic

In 2005, the A479 was listed as one of the most dangerous roads in Wales in an AA Motorway Trust report. In 2013, another report suggested the same. The section of the A479 between Pengenffordd and

has had regular issues with

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

. A section south of Talgarth was closed in March 2016. In February 2017, the road was closed for an extended period in order to lay new foundation work. In February 2020, a section of the road near Talgarth was closed following a collapse during

Storm Dennis Storm Dennis was a European windstorm which, in February 2020, became one of the most intense extratropical cyclones ever recorded, reaching a minimum central pressure of . The thirteenth named storm of the 2019–20 European windstorm season, De ...

. The damage affected the surface and foundation of the road, resulting it being closed until November.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Roads, Wales Roads in Powys

Route

History

Traffic

See also

References

External links