£9m road schemes planned for Rhondda Cynon Taf

Anthony Lewis Local Democracy Reporter

More than £9m is set to be spent next year on some of the major new roads and transport projects in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT).

As part of the council’s supplementary capital programme for highways, transport and strategic projects, £9.15m has been set aside for transport infrastructure in 2025/2026 including the Llanharan Sustainable Transport  Corridor, which has been allocated £5.05m, and the A465 Cynon Gateway which has been allocated £1.14m.

Both were part of the Welsh Government roads review process which did not support either of the projects.

But the council has made changes to the Llanharan proposal taking into account the findings of the review and a report to cabinet on Wednesday, March 19, says the Welsh Government has indicated support in principle.

It says discussions continue on the refinement of the scheme with the Welsh Government alongside the ongoing design and development of the project.

Welsh Government bid

The council has also submitted a £513,000 bid to Welsh Government for Local Transport Fund funding in 2025/26 to go towards the development of the A465 Cynon Gateway.

There is £1.2m allocated to the A4119 dualling between Coed Ely and Ynysmaerdy which has been completed and the road opened but this funding is to maintain peripheral works, the ongoing consideration of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) and other longer term project costs.

There is £384,000 set aside for the Gelli/Treorchy link road with an ongoing review looking again at the issues and sustainable aims to address the ongoing problems in the Rhondda Fawr particularly around Stag Square.

Park and ride

The park and ride programme will get £500,000. The council has worked with Transport for Wales (TfW) over the implementation of the Treorchy park and ride project and TfW started work in 2024/25 with the aim to finish in April, 2025.

The council has submitted a bid for Welsh Government Local Transport Fund Grant funding to deliver further park and ride facilities in Porth in support of the newly opened Porth Transport Hub.

And £878,000 is set to go to the Making Better Use programme which aims to identify, design and deliver low cost and high value improvements  to deal with issues on things like safety, accessibility, efficiency, bus routes and active travel.

An element of this work will focus on the A4059 and A4119, the report said.