The A4050 road connects

Barry, Vale of Glamorgan Barry ( cy, Y Barri; ) is a town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the resurrected Bar ...

with

Culverhouse Cross Culverhouse Cross ( cy, Croes Cwrlwys) is a district straddling the boundary between Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, in the community of Wenvoe. The district is centred on a major traffic roundabout that links West Cardiff to the M4 mo ...

on the outskirts of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is approximately long, and is the key link road between the M4 motorway and

Cardiff International Airport Cardiff Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Caerdydd) is the only airport offering commercial passenger services in Wales. It has been under the ownership of the Welsh Government since March 2013, operating at an arm's length as a commercial business. Pa ...

2008 road improvements

Wenvoe Wenvoe ( cy, Gwenfô) is a village, community and electoral ward between Barry and Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Nearby are the Wenvoe Transmitter near Twyn-yr-Odyn and the site of the former HTV Wales Television Centre at Culverhouse ...

village lies along the road. In 2008 the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh ...

allocated £576,000 to road resurfacing and improvement, which as of 2012 was still ongoing. One area given specific attention is the area around Pencoedtre between Waycock Cross and Barry as housing development and a new crematorium has been created in recent times.

Culverhouse Cross

At Culverhouse Cross, the A4050 connects to the A48 and the A4232. The A48 links with

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for ...

and to

Cowbridge Road West Cowbridge Road West () is a major road in western Cardiff, the capital of Wales and forms part of the A48 road. It divides the districts of Ely and Caerau and connects inner Cardiff to Culverhouse Cross and eventually the M4 motorway via ...

which connects the western Cardiff district of Ely to Canton and the city centre. The A4232 links with the M4 at junction 33 and Cardiff Bay.

History

Original 1932 route

In 1932, the A4050 was a short road along the

Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (one ...

, connecting

Bargoed Bargoed ( cy, Bargod) is a town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Wales, one of the South Wales Valleys. It lies on the Rhymney River in the county borough of Caerphilly. It straddles the ancient boundary of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, wit ...

with the A4049 in both directions. Starting on the A4049 at

Pengam Pengam is a former coal village and community in the Rhymney Valley, Caerphilly county borough, in Wales. It is also a community, containing itself and the nearby village of Fleur de Lys, and at the 2001 census it has a population of 3,842, risin ...

, the road headed west across the river before turning northwards. The road ran through the centre of

before detouring west to cross the narrow

Darran Valley Darran Valley ( cy, Cwm Darran) is a community in the County Borough of Caerphilly, Wales. The Darran Valley consists of the valley of the Bargod Rhymni and contains the villages of Deri, Pentwyn and Fochriw. These settlements grew around the I ...

. After rejoining the

the road continued upstream via Brithdir to end back on the A4049 at

Tir-Phil Tir-Phil is a village near the town of New Tredegar in the Caerphilly county borough of south Wales. The village of Tir-Phil and New Tredegar itself are served by Tir-Phil railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = ...

. The original northern end of the

A469 The A469 is a road in south Wales. It links Cardiff and Caerphilly with Rhymney and the Heads of the Valleys Road (A465). See also * Transport in Cardiff * Transport in Wales Transport in Wales is heavily influenced by the cou ...

was in

Ystrad Mynach Ystrad Mynach is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough, within the ancient county of Glamorgan, Wales, and is north of the town of Caerphilly. The urban area has a population of 19,204, and stands in the Rhymney Valley. Before the Industr ...

. Later in the 1920s, that road was extended north to meet the A4050 near Pengam railway station and then, in 1935, the entire A4050 was renumbered as part of a northern extension of the

, giving that road the spur that survives to this day.

has since been bypassed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:4-4050 Roads in the Vale of Glamorgan