The roadworks on the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road, which aim to make the road into a dual carriageway, are a familiar topic to anyone living near them. Whether it's a young boy being injured on a roundabout set up due to the works, or Cefn Coed being left completely isolated after the road making it a popular pit-stop was closed, the works have had a huge impact.
But at the other end of the current leg of the roadworks, a 5.6-mile drive from Cefn Coed, is another village where the works have affected the fortunes of businesses and impacted the lives of residents. Ask anyone in Hirwaun what they think of the works, and you'll get a mixed response - often along the lines of 'it needs doing, but it's a pain,' - yet for some business owners, the picture gets a bit trickier.
Before the roadworks, someone commuting from Aberdare to Swansea might stop off in Hirwaun to pick up some shopping or a takeaway on their journey home - and visitors from towns and villages all around could pop in for some shopping. Since the roadworks started, many business owners say trade has hit a speedbump.
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For Michelle Dower, owner of Mogsy Belle Ice Cream Parlour on the High Street, business has taken a hit. "The roadworks have affected our trade with people who travel here," she said. "We used to have quite a lot of people who travelled to the shop, and we've taken a big drop to our takings, and to passing trade too."
When you're in the ice cream business, being able to deliver food quickly is key - at a push, you can microwave a curry that got cold in its way to your house, but once ice cream's melted, it's a lost cause. Michelle said: "We used to have 30-minute deliveries and recently they've gone up to 75 minutes."
Michelle says she's had to let go of a member of staff because "it's gotten that bad," and is looking at opening for fewer days in a week. She's even resorted to putting up signs on the outskirts of Hirwaun to say the shop is still open.
"It's really urgent that this work gets done," she added. "It’s not good that it will go on until 2025. We’re all small businesses and it’s making a big impact on all of us. A lot of businesses are feeling the same problems."
Why have the roadworks had this effect? It depends who you ask. Some people will tell you that people have started using Hirwaun as a 'cut-through,' to avoid the traffic and the temporary changes to the A465, making the roads in the village too busy to bother driving through. Others will say the closure of Brecon Road, one of the main entrances to the village from the A465 - and confusing signage at the other entrances - means passers-by aren't even aware the village is open to visitors.
One resident, Steven Rogers, added his concerns to the pile: "I live in Springfield Gardens," he said, "and the amount of traffic that passes my house now is much increased. People don’t use the bypass anymore, they go through the village at high speeds.
"They’re using it as a cut-through to avoid the works and the traffic. The amount of cars isn’t good, the police are aware because they’ve caught a lot of people speeding through the village."
Lee Penaluna, owner of Penaluna's Famous Fish and Chips, also says it's the traffic causing problems. "We’re a destination shop with people travelling out to us," he said, "but people say they struggle because the traffic is so bad and some people say it takes an hour to get from Aberdare to Hirwaun." On a normal day, the journey should take about 15 minutes.
Lee said: "The work does need doing, and I think it's fantastic," but added that you have to "expect a lot of headaches" with such a big project. He said things have been "really, really hard" since they started.
"When you’ve gone through Covid and prices going through the roof… with the prices of gas, fish, oil, wages [going up] … lots of my friends in this industry are suffering. I’m down eight staff since a few months ago, and we’re not really getting people down to the village because it takes so long to get in and out."
So, what's the work behind this traffic? As part of sections five and six of the Welsh Government's A465 improvements, the Heads of the Valleys Road is being turned into a dual carriageway in both directions from Dowlais Top to Hirwaun.
The £590m project started construction in 2021 and is expected to be finished by mid 2025. Some shop owners claimed Brecon Road was supposed to reopen in September 2022, but at the time of writing, it's only set to open on January 6, according to traffic reporting service Inrix.
Some residents also claimed the signage at the remaining entrances to the village wasn't clear enough, and made it seem like only residents were allowed to travel through the village - something the Welsh Government didn't respond to when asked. Driving around the outskirts of Hirwaun, some signs read "businesses open as usual," but others read "residents access only."
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "Improving the A465 between Dowlais Top and Hirwaun is a long-standing commitment. It is a challenging project which sometimes involves complex heavy engineering in the heart of the community - we thank residents for their patience while works are ongoing.
“The project remains on target to be completed by 2025 and, when complete, will improve traffic flow, increase road safety and support economic regeneration.”
Not every business has been struggling, admittedly. Adam, of Adam's Barber Shop, said that although some customers had stopped coming because of the roadwork, because he wasn't reliant on passing trade, the impact wasn't as big.
For Mike Williams, owner of Hirwaun Travel, the situation is similar - the roadworks haven't directly affected his business because most of his trade is done over the phone, online, or with people local enough that they can walk to his shop. But from his seat in his shop, just off the High Street, he sees and hears all about the problems.
He tells a story about customers travelling up from Maesycwmmer to pay for a holiday, who got lost on their way up as they couldn't get into the village. He said: "They phoned me up and were parked in Hirwaun Industrial Estate, phoning up asking how to get to the village. I ended up driving up to collect the money from them there. For anyone who hasn't been to Hirwaun for a while, it would be easy to not know how to get in."
He added: "It's dangerous, especially in the night, with so many alterations in the road, and old and new white lines, you don't know where the hell you're going." He claims there are "one or two near misses" every week on the road.
One big concern has been the Croesbychan roundabout, connecting Hirwaun and Llwydcoed's side roads to the A465, which has been used to temporarily replace a T-junction since May while the Court Lodge underbridge is built. An eight-year-old boy was left traumatised and with minor head injuries after a three-vehicle pile-up on the roundabout - and locals say it's all too easy to drive straight over it without even realising there was a roundabout there.
Karen Morgan and Adam Owain Rogers, county borough councillors representing Hirwaun, Penderyn and Rhigos, have been chasing the issue of the roadworks on behalf of residents since they started. They confirmed on Thursday that the layout of the roundabout will be changed "in the next six to eight weeks," after meetings with contractors.
The Plaid councillors also commented on the overall state of affairs: "As the elected representatives for Hirwaun, Penderyn and Rhigos we fully endorse the concerns raised by residents and local businesses about the disruption and impact of the roadworks. Whilst some inconvenience was to be expected with such a large scheme, the impact on people’s everyday lives and livelihoods has been significant.
"We regularly contact the contractors on issues of road safety, congestion, pollution from the works and concerns from residents, and meet with them on a monthly basis. Last August we held a public meeting where Future Valleys Construction, RCT Highways and elected officials heard residents express their frustration with unmet road work schedules such as Brecon Road, safety concerns relating to the high volume and speed of traffic using our villages as a rat run and businesses not being given the support they need. Residents asked for action to address their concerns – we are still waiting for action.
"We are very disappointed with the lack of response and action from the Welsh Government to date there has been absolutely no monitoring undertaken by them to measure the impact on our villages, with Welsh Government blaming procurement issues, and they have not taken up the offer to visit the area with us and witness the impact on our communities. Whilst we are supportive of a hopefully safer A465 when the scheme is completed, we urgently need actions to be taken now to mitigate the disruption we are experiencing."
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