Roundabout work set to improve vehicle capacity

A BUSY roundabout is due to undergo work to improve traffic flow and capacity for motorists.

An additional inner lane will be added to parts of Bridge Street roundabout in Pontypridd.

The work is due to start from Monday and will take place ahead of the major works due to be carried out at Fiddlers Elbow, Abercynon, to help ease the disruption to motorists using the diversion route.

The Bridge Street roundabout work will be in place for four to six weeks and RCT council say measures are being taken to keep disruption to an absolute minimum, with works set to take place during the night where possible.

Traffic management will be in place from 7pm to 7am and access for any residents affected will be maintained at all times.

Work on the Bridge Street roundabout will see the widening of the circulatory carriageway on the eastern side of the roundabout to allow a third circulatory lane and, once completed, the work will allow improved circu- lation around the roundabout.

The funding for Bridge Street roundabout and RCT council’s part of the Fiddlers Elbow scheme has been allocated from a £23m investment scheme which is set to continue over the next three years and is part of the wider £200m RCTinvest programme.

More than £53m has already been invested in improving and repairing the county borough’s highways and transportation infrastructure and on strategic projects since 2011.

The HTISP Investment scheme will see a number of streets, roads, towns and villages right across the county borough benefit as work is now ploughing ahead to tackle key areas.

The roundabout scheme is expected to be completed ahead of August 8, when the work will move to the £2m Fiddlers Elbow scheme, which will see the movement joints replaced on Fiddler’s Elbow Viaduct – one of the region’s busiest road bridges that links the adjacent county boroughs of Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly to the A470 trunk road and RCT.

Ownership of the bridge is shared jointly between Merthyr Tydfil and RCT councils and funding of the project will be shared equally between the authorities.

RCT council leader, Councillor Andrew Morgan, who is also cabinet member for highways, said: “Myself and my cabinet wholeheartedly agree that improvements to our highways and structures continue to be a key priority when it comes to allocating our financial resources.

“The Bridge Street works will not only help ease disruption on the Fiddlers Elbow diversion route, but in the longer term, will help ease congestion on one of Pontypridd’s busiest roundabout by increasing traffic flow capacity for motorists in the area.

“The works at Bridge Street and Fiddlers Elbow are likely to cause disruptions to motorists and I would reassure our residents and our neighbouring authorities that every measure has been taken to minimise this where possible.”

Work at the Fiddlers Elbow viaduct are expected to last until December this year.