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A4059
The A4059 passes through the Brecon Beacons
Route information
Length	9.5 mi (15.3 km)
Major junctions
North end	A470, Beacons Reservoir
Major intersections	A470 A465 A4061 A465 A470
South end	A470, Abercynon
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Constituent country	Wales
Primary destinations	Hirwaun Aberdare Mountain Ash Abercynon
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← A4058 → A4060

The A4059 road is a single-carriageway north–south road that runs between the A470 at Brecon Beacons National Park and the A470 at Abercynon.

Route

The road can be thought of as an alternative, but slightly longer route than the A470, the road on which both its termini are. It is a road with two parts of contrasting character, the northern half crossing through the wild rural Brecon Beacons while the southern half is at a lower elevation and is urban in nature.

Southbound, the A4059 begins by turning right off the A470 to the south of Storey Arms, just after passing the Beacons Reservoir. The road crosses the top of the reservoir's dam before climbing away from the trees and onto exposed moor land to the west of the A470. Thereafter the A4059 climbs to a height of 450 metres (1,480 ft), following the River Taff 100 m below. At this point along the road, the A470 can be clearly seen in the valley below. As the A4059 continues through the Brecon Beacons, the vegetation is limited to coarse grass, and there are plenty of sheep. Leaving the park after passing through the small village of Penderyn, the road descends into Hirwaun, the first major destination on the southbound A4059. The A4059 was once synonymous with the A465 for a short distance past Hirwaun, however following the construction of the new A465 dual carriageway and re-routing of the A465 to the South, this short section of road is now simply numbered as the A4059. When the road leaves Hirwaun, it then turns southeast and follows the Cynon River, passing through Aberdare and Mountain Ash, although most of this urban stretch now runs on a new relief road, so avoiding the centres of the towns. Eventually, the A4059 reaches its southern terminus of Abercynon and rejoins the A470.

Planned Future Development

In October 2018, Cabinet Members allocated £1 million to a future scheme that would "extend the Aberdare Bypass and link the A4059 to the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road", which is also due to be improved.

In July 2019, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council began traffic monitoring exercises around the A4059 to assess traffic flow, which would inform the planned future development.

The proposed extension is part of a wider investment programme currently being undertaken by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. This project would connect key parts of Aberdare directly to the A465 at Croesbychan, which would reduce journey times and relieve Penywaun and Hirwaun of excessive traffic flow.

References

1. "A4059". Sabre. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
2. A4059 (Brecon Beacons – Brecon to Hirwaun) from ruralroads.co.uk
3. "Penderyn to Cilfynydd". Penderyn to Cilfynydd.
4. https://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/EN/Newsroom/PressReleases/2018/October/UpdateonmajorHighwaysandTransportationprojects.aspx
5. @RCTCouncil (9 July 2019). "The Council has begun a traffic monitoring exercise in the north of the Cynon Valley, to inform a future scheme whi…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. "Traffic monitoring to inform future Aberdare Bypass extension". rctcbc.gov.uk.

v t e A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme
	A4 A40 A41 A42 A43 A44 A45 A46 A47 A48 A49
	A400 A403 A404 A405 A406 A412 A413 A414 A415 A417 A418 A419 A420 A421 A422 A423 A426 A427 A428 A429 A431 A432 A433 A441 A442 A444 A445 A446 A448 A449 A452 A453 A454 A456 A458 A461 A465 A466 A468 A469 A470 A473 A474 A475 A476 A477 A478 A479 A482 A483 A485 A486 A487 A489 A490 A491 A493 A494 A496 A498 A499
	A4005 A4006 A4008 A4010 A4018 A4032 A4042 A4050 A4053 A4054 A4055 A4059 A4060 A4061 A4063 A4069 A4074 A4076 A4080 A4085 A4086 A4103 A4107 A4109 A4110 A4113 A4117 A4118 A4119 A4123 A4130 A4133 A4135 A4136 A4138 A4142 A4144 A4146 A4148 A4150 A4155 A4160 A4161 A4174 A4200 A4202 A4204 A4214 A4216 A4221 A4226 A4230 A4232 A4234 A4240 A4241 A4260 A4361 A4400 A4536 A4540
List of A roads in Zone 4 List of B roads in Zone 4

v t e Transport in Powys
Road	A40 A44 A438 A458 A470 A479 A481 A483 A487 A488 A489 A490 A495 A4059 A4113 A4221 B4574
Footpaths	Beacons Way Cambrian Way Epynt Way Glyndŵr's Way Marches Way Offa's Dyke Path Sarn Helen Severn Way Usk Valley Walk Wye Valley Walk
Cycle routes	Celtic Trail Elan Valley Trail Lake Vyrnwy Road Circuit Lôn Cambria Lôn Las Cymru Radnor Ring Taff Trail
Railway stations	Cambrian Line Caersws Dovey Junction Machynlleth Newtown (Powys) Welshpool Heart of Wales line Builth Road Cilmeri Dolau Garth (Powys) Knucklas Llanbister Road Llandrindod Llangammarch Llangynllo Llanwrtyd Pen-y-Bont Sugar Loaf Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway Castle Caereinion Cyfronydd Heniarth Llanfair Caereinion Sylfaen Welshpool Raven Square
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v t e Transport in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Roads	M4 motorway European route E30 A465 A468 A470 A473 A4054 A4058 A4059 A4061 A4093 A4107 A4109 A4119 A4222 A4223 A4225 A4233
Bus	Stagecoach South Wales First Cymru NAT Group Fflecsi (TfW)
Cycling	NCR 4 Taff Trail Lôn Las Cymru Celtic Trail
Railway lines	■ Maesteg Line ■ Merthyr line ■ Rhondda line South Wales Main Line
Railway stations	Abercynon Aberdare Cwmbach Dinas Rhondda Fernhill Llanharan Llwynypia Mountain Ash Penrhiwceiber Pontyclun Pontypridd Porth Quakers Yard Taffs Well Ton Pentre Tonypandy Treforest Treforest Estate Trehafod Treherbert Treorchy Troed-y-rhiw Ynyswen Ystrad Rhondda
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