Valley road link gets green light

The route of the road will run through the former Bargoed Colliery

A £20m road linking four towns in the Rhymney Valley has been given the go ahead by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Angel Way road will link Bargoed, Aberbargoed, Gilfach and Pengam as part of a regeneration scheme to improve transport links.

The single carriage route will run through the former Bargoed Colliery site which had been turned into a country park in the 1990s.

There have been campaigns for a new road in the area for several years.

Bargoed is the one of the largest towns in the Caerphilly county borough and is on the main route leading north to the A465 Heads of the Valleys road.

Caerphilly Council has supported the plans for the new road which it hopes will lead to further regeneration for the upper Rhymney Valley.

Council leader Harry Andrews said he was "delighted" the scheme was to go ahead.

"We have campaigned long and hard for this road scheme and it is fantastic to finally get the green light to proceed," he said.

"The road will help regenerate the whole area and will complement our plans to reposition Bargoed as one of the major shopping centres in the heart of the valleys alongside Blackwood and Caerphilly."