A road in South Wales is set to be completed this year, 23 years since roadworks first began.
Work on the A465, also known as the Heads of the Valleys Road, will finish this summer, the Welsh government has confirmed.
The government says the work to complete the dual carriageway has been one of the UK’s “largest and most technically challenging road projects”.
It has cost the government £1.4bn in a move which it says will reduce journey times and improve road safety.
The stretch of road from Hirwaun to Dowlais is the last section to be completed, which has been carried out in several stages.
Local councillor David Hughes told Sky News the improvements would be “good for the community”.
“It’s a quicker road and hopefully will bring more employment and more work into the area,” he said.
Wales‘s transport secretary, Ken Skates, said fixing the country’s roads was a “key priority” for the Welsh government.
“It’s been a complex project which has not been without its challenges, and I would like to thank everyone who has played their part in helping us to deliver one of the largest road projects in the UK,” he added.
Damien Pearce, owner of Valley Carpets in Pant Industrial Estate, told Sky News the road closures had “impacted [the business] massively” and that the first three years of the latest stage were “horrendous”.
“Because of all these blockades and barriers and signs saying roads closed, people instantly [were] just going to turn around and go away,” he said.
Mr Pearce said the completed road would “definitely” benefit the area.
“My shop is more visible now because it used to be covered with trees and bushes,” he added.
“We do get people saying, ‘I’ve seen your building from driving, and we’ve popped in’. On that aspect it will be great.”
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The project was one of a number of road improvement schemes already under way when the Welsh government announced a review of all new road-building projects.
Then first minister Mark Drakeford‘s transport minister Lee Waters said new criteria for road building would have a greater focus on environmental factors.
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Shadow transport secretary Peter Fox said the project was “overbudget and well behind schedule”, accusing the government of being “anti-motorist”.
“By scrapping many other vital infrastructure projects like the much-needed M4 relief road, the cost of which would have nearly been covered by the Heads of the Valleys price tag, the Welsh public will rightly question whether this gargantuan expense was worth it,” he added.
