Major traffic problems could hit Abergavenny as the New Year starts with a wide-reaching programme of roadworks threatens to choke-off main routes.

Costain, the firm delivering the ambitious Heads of Valleys development, is proposing a number of weekend and overnight road closures right through next month in a bid to kickstart a project which has come under financial scrutiny in recent months.

The majority of road closures will be between Brynmawr roundabout and the stretch along the Glanbaiden roundabout in Govilon, with the section between Brynmawr and Ebbw Vale will be shut over one weekend in January.

A comprehensive list of diversion routes are planned to snake all over main and minor roads connecting to Abergavenny, with the potential to cause widespread traffic problems and tailbacks. ??But Costain has insisted the programme of works has been planned to minimise disruption to drivers, with the majority of closures being rolled out after 8.30pm on weekday evenings, and over weekends, when roads are quieter, before re-opening at 6am on the following days.

Bruce Richards, the project’s director, said, the plans were essential for the next stage of the Heads of Valleys development, and stressed the the public would be kept informed.

“Road closures are proposed in January for a variety of reasons, including a major bridge construction on the scheme.   These vital closures have been agreed with Welsh Government and the South Wales Trunk Road Agency and will be notified to the public well in advance, but only once they are confirmed. 

“Road closures are necessary for the safety of the travelling public and our workers, as with previous closures, they are dependent on many factors, not least of all favourable weather conditions.”

Simon Howarth, an independent councillor for Llanelly, said the works were likely to cause serious disruptions to drivers, but the work had to be done. ?

?“On the basis of it, there’s not a lot we can do. It is one of those things. People will have to be patient and get through it. ??

“It’s already having an adverse affect in that people do not want to venture out and some people from the valleys who travel to Abergavenny for a visit do not want to come here at the moment. It’s having a serious knock-on effect. ?

?“We will just have to get it done and get it over with,” he said. ??“We understand there’s a big backlog of work now, which built up over the bad weather we’ve had, and we all understand that. But does there really have to be all these road closures? ?

?“Let’s just make sure our emergency services are informed, and we can get this all out of the way. ?

?“January is going to be a difficult month, but it must be done.”??The major project to widen the A465 into a dual carriageway stretching from Dowlais to Hirwaun has come under the glare of Welsh ministers recently, due to ‘spiralling’ costs which a Western Mail investigation claimed would run into the hundreds of millions.

Original estimates billed the route at £39m per mile, which has now ballooned to £1.2bn from original estimates of £428m.

The probe also found that Welsh Government plans to deal with private investors to fund the next stage, on a Second Severn Crossings-style blueprint taking in the planned M4 relief road project near Newport.

The report suggested Welsh Government planned to agree a Public Private Partnership with a private firm, with historical examples of such deals contending that the project could then cost taxpayers around £100m for every mile of road.

Last month, Welsh transport secretary Ken Skates revealed he had ordered an urgent cost review into the project.

But councillors and politicians often remind each other of the grand scale, and costs therefore, of such an ambitious large-scale project. Photos published in this newspaper recently brought the work on the A465 between Gilwern and Brynmawr into perspective.

The old three-lane road, in place since the 1960s, is disappearing to be replaced by a dual carriageway, with the new concrete arch bridge at Gilwern being the largest of its type in the world. Workers have built a 6,200m colossus of retaining walls to date, and planted 4,000 trees.

Dozens of diversions to water mains, gas mains, phone lines and electricity supplies have been completed; including a water main that required a new 1.5m wide, 100m long tunnel at a depth of 20m below the surface.

The builders have also dealt with a number of old mine workings uncovered near the Brynmawr junction. The grand project is due for completion by mid 2019.

PLANNED CLOSURES IN EARLY JANUARY

Wednesday, January 3- Wednesday, January 10: Gilwern Roundabout to Brynmawr Roundabout: 8.30pm - 6am (closed to Ebbw Vale for weekend)

Friday, January 5 at 8.30pm - Monday January 8 at 6am- Gilwern Roundabout to Brynmawr Roundabout will be closed

Friday, January 12 - Monday, January 15 ??Gilwern Roundabout to Brynmawr Roundabout will be closed from 8.30pm-6am

Monday, January 15-Tuesday, January 16

Gilwern Roundabout to Brynmawr Roundabout: 8.30pm-6am

Friday, January 19 at 8.30pm - Monday, January 22 at 6am: Gilwern Roundabout to Brynmawr Roundabout:  

Monday, January 22 - Wednesday, January 24: Gilwern Roundabout to Brynmawr Roundabout closed from 8.30pm - 6am