Mountain road closed to motorists for three weeks
RHIGOS Mountain Road has completely closed for the next three weeks.
The A4061 road, which connects Treherbert in Rhondda to Hirwaun in the Cynon Valley, will be resurfaced, meaning big detours for commuters.
Around 6,000 tonnes of Tarmac will be laid across nine kilometres of the road in a £1.25m investment, requiring a full, 24-hours-a-day road closure for three weeks, starting on Monday, July 25.
The council says the full road closure is required because the vehicles being used to carry out the work are larger than a single lane of traffic.
Among the options for people who need to commute between Treherbert and Hirwaun, Maerdy Mountain is the shortest route.
If travelling from Hirwaun, this would involve passing through Penywaun into Aberdare and over Maerdy Mountain.
The route then involves travelling through Ferndale into Tylorstown, through Penrhys to Ystrad, Pentre, Treorchy and then Treherbert.
However, this route is complicated further by the fact that a section of the Maerdy Mountain Road is currently running singlelane traffic, controlled by traffic lights. This is due to a landslip which took place there in December 2015.
To avoid Maerdy Mountain, there is the option to take the even longer round trip via Pontypridd.
This would involve travelling on the A465 from Hirwaun to Merthyr, and the A470 from Merthyr to Pontypridd (or through the Cynon Valley and A470 to Pontypridd).
Then, the route travels to Porth, Tonypandy, Ystrad, Pentre, Treorchy and Treherbert.