A470 road

The A470 is a major road in Wales, running from Cardiff to Llandudno.

The southernmost point of the route is at The Flourish, Cardiff Bay, outside the Wales Millennium Centre. It runs up Lloyd George Avenue (this was previously Collingdon Road, and the A470 previously ran along the parallel Bute Street), and continues along St. Mary Street in central Cardiff. After a tidal flow system running to Maindy it is an urban dual-carriageway restricted to 30mph and with many light controlled crossings until it reaches the M4, under which it passes without interruption. For the next 15 miles it is a modern high-speed dual carriageway by-passing Tongwynlais and Castell Coch, Taff's Well, Pontypridd and Abercynon before passing across the reclaimed coal tips that catastrophically destroyed much of the village of Aberfan. It passes to the west of Merthyr Tydfil before narrowing to a single-carriageway for the whole of the rest of the route northwards. A twisting section alongside the Taf Fechan reservoirs of Llwynon, Cantref and Beacons takes the road to its highest point at Storey Arms on the pass over the Brecon Beacons before a long descent down to the town of Brecon. This marks the northernmost point of the "traditional" A470.

The remainder of the route north of Brecon appears to be many older routes cobbled together and labelled "A470", since a motorist looking to follow the entire route north to south must diverge from the main line of the road no fewer than five times. A short and dangerous three lane stretch heads north east before a sharp left turn is required to stay on the road. From this point on the road becomes narrow and twisting and overtaking is problematical except at a few well known straight sections. Another sharp left turn at a stop sign in Llyswen takes the road alongside the River Wye into Builth Wells.

A very winding section follows until, having passed the Vulcan Arms hotel on the left, the road straightens for over one mile, one of the few safe overtaking locations but even here the speed limit is restricted to 60 mph. In Rhayader there is an almost impossibly narrow crossing in the centre of the town before the road returns to its usual narrowness heading up towards Llangurig. A right turn outside the village takes the road on past Llanidloes and then past Llandinam, the birthplace of David Davies and now the headquarters of Girl Guides Wales. Another anomalous left turn at a railway crossing sets the path for Caersws,Carno and Llanbrymair. Just beyond the village of Talerddig the road descends and crosses under the mid Wales railway line. The height of the bridge and the angle of the road make for a difficult manoeuvre for heavy good vehicles and coaches which have to take over the whole width of the road to pass under the bridge. The long descent towards Commins Coch is a relatively new stretch of road that replaced a record breaking set of road-works that had traffic light controlled single lane working for over 10 years because of unstable ground conditions. The river bridge at Commins Coch is so narrow and set at such an angle that only one vehicle at a time can pass. At Cemaes Road the road joins the A487 at a roundabout. A right turn at the roundabout takes the road onto Mallwyd where the A458 joins at yet another roundabout.

The country becomes more forested and the road climbs up through Dinas Mawddwy and then steeply up the eastern foot-hills of Cadair Idris before dropping down through tortuous bends to the Dolgellau by-pass. More sharp twists and turns in the forestry and through the village of Ganllwyd brings the road up onto the high plateau of the Cambrian dome where the road follows the ancient track of Sarn Helen Roman road passing the redundant nuclear power station of Trawsfynydd. A right turn beyond the power station takes the road on to Ffestiniog, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Dolwyddelan. A sharp left turn interrupts the A470 as it becomes the A5 for a short distance towards Betws-y-Coed before turning right again back onto the A470 just before Waterloo Bridge. Passing up the valley of the River Conwy the road passes through Llanrwst, Tal y Cafn and Glan Conwy before arriving on the north coast at Llandudno.

The road is mountainous in parts, particularly over the Brecon Beacons, south of Dolgellau and over the Crimea Pass.