A465 | |
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Route information | |
Maintained by English local authorities and South Wales Trunk Road Agency | |
Length: | 66 mi (106 km) |
Major junctions | |
West end: |
Llandarcy 51°38′57″N 3°50′55″W / 51.6492°N 3.8486°W |
M4 motorway Junction 43 A48 road A474 road A4230 road A4109 road A4061 road A4059 road A470 road A4054 road A4060 road A469 road A4048 road A4046 road A4047 road A467 road A4077 road A4143 road A4042 road A40 road A49 road |
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East end: |
Bromyard, Herefordshire 52°11′13″N 2°30′50″W / 52.1870°N 2.5139°W |
Location | |
Primary destinations: |
Neath Merthyr Tydfil Abergavenny Hereford |
Road network | |
The A465 is a major road in south Wales. That part of it westwards from Abergavenny is more commonly known as the Heads of the Valleys Road because it joins together the northern ends (or 'heads') of the South Wales Valleys. This section is also officially known as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road. It approximately follows the southern boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park, and an Ordnance Survey Pathfinder guide describes it as the unofficial border between rural and industrial South Wales. It provides a more direct and toll-free route between Northern England and the Midlands to South West Wales and Ireland.
The A465 runs southwest from Bromyard towards Hereford. It joins the A4103 just before Hereford. It starts again at Hereford, crosses the Wales-England border over the River Monnow, continues south-west to Abergavenny then west to Brynmawr, then continues west through the heads of the valleys region, past Ebbw Vale, Tredegar, Rhymney, Merthyr Tydfil, Hirwaun and Glynneath. Near Glynneath, the road heads down along the floor of the Vale of Neath bypassing Resolven, Neath and Skewen before terminating at its junction with the M4 motorway, junction 43, at Llandarcy.