A477 road

A477 shield

A477
The A477 near Kilgetty
Route information
Length 27.8 mi[1] (44.7 km)
Major junctions
East end St Clears
51°48′59″N 4°30′18″W / 51.8163°N 4.5049°W / 51.8163; -4.5049 (A477 road (eastern end))
  A40 A40 road
A478 A478 road
A4075 A4075 road
A4076 A4076 road
West end Johnston
51°45′03″N 5°00′06″W / 51.7508°N 5.0016°W / 51.7508; -5.0016 (A477 road (western end))
Location
Primary
destinations
St Clears
Pembroke Dock
Road network

The A477 is a major road in South Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire connecting St Clears and Johnston. Its route includes the Cleddau Bridge, a toll bridge linking Pembroke Dock and Neyland.

From the A40 in St Clears, the A477 is a trunk road with primary status as far as the Waterloo roundabout in Nash, Pembroke Dock, on the southeast side of the Milford Haven Waterway. Responsibility for the management and maintenance of this section lies with the South Wales Trunk Road Agent on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government. From there the responsibility for maintaining the A477 is held by Pembrokeshire County Council.

History

Original route of the A477 between Pembroke Dock and Red Roses(1923)
Red Roses bypass - looking west

A route from St Clears to Pembroke Dock was first surveyed by Thomas Telford in 1826, as part of a review of the route of the mail service from London to Ireland that at the time went via the docks at Milford Haven. A decision was taken in 1827 to move the mail port from Milford Haven to Hobbs Point in Pembroke Dock, and to pursue the access route from St Clears to Pembroke Dock. By 1830, a section of the road between the villages of Llanddowror and Red Roses had been completed.[2] A levy on mail passing through Milford was introduced by the Postage Act 1836, to be used to fund the new route.[3] The full route was completed in 1839, running from St Clears via Llanddowror, Red Roses, Llanteg, Begelly and Carew to Pembroke Dock.[2]

Road designations were first allocated by the Ministry of Transport in 1922 with the road between Red Roses and Pembroke Dock being designated the A477. The section between St Clears and Red Roses had been part of the A40 until the early 1930s.

The 22-mile section of the road from its start at St Clears as far as Nash—which is a convenient distribution point for places on the south side of Milford Haven—was promoted to a trunk road following an announcement by the (then) Secretary of State for Wales, Cledwyn Hughes, on 14 November 1966.[4]

The Cleddau Bridge became operational during 1975

The Kilgetty-Begelly bypass was completed in 1984 at a cost of £14.2 million.[5] The Sageston-Redberth bypass was completed in 2002 at a cost of £6.4 million.[6] A new bypass improvement scheme for the section of the A477 between St Clears and Red Roses was approved by the Welsh Government on 27 January 2012. Construction work on the new bypass began in mid 2012.[7] Constructed with a straighter alignment and bypassing the villages of Red Roses and Llanddowror, the new section was scheduled to open during May 2014[8] but opened to general traffic at around 12:25 pm on 16 April 2014 having previously been declared open earlier in the day by Edwina Hart, Welsh Assembly Member for Transport.[9][10]

Route

The A477 is 27.8 miles (44.7 km) in length. From east to west, it runs either through, near or over:

Toll charges

History of toll charges
YearCars & vansHeavy vehicles
1975 30p60p
1979 35p70p
1985 50p£1.00
1993 75p£1.50

The Cleddau Bridge is funded by tolls which are collected at Pembroke Dock from traffic in both directions. Pedestrians and cyclists are free of charge.

They are, since 1993, 35p for motorcycles, 75p for cars, £1.50 for heavy vehicles. Car drivers may also buy books of 20 or 50 bridge tickets which reduces the cost to 60p per crossing. The toll booths only accept cash or the pre-purchased tickets. Toll booths with barriers were introduced in September 2004 to reduce the number of vehicles driving through without paying.[11]

A review was carried out in early 2016, when Pembrokeshire County Councillors voted that all toll charges would remain unchanged and would not be abolished.[12].[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Directions to A477". Google. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  2. 1 2 Ayres, George (2011). History of the Mail Routes to Ireland Until 1850. p. 64-65. ISBN 9781446605042.
  3. ↑ "Postage Act 1836". Act No. 6 Will 4 c.25 of June 21, 1836.
  4. ↑ "Wales (Trade and Industry) House of Commons debates". 1966-11-14.
  5. ↑ "Road Improvements, Pembroke House of Commons Written Answers". 1990-04-24.
  6. ↑ "Completion of A477 Sageston - Redberth bypass welcomed by Sue Essex". 2002-09-25.
  7. ↑ A477 Red Roses St Clears Improvement Scheme
  8. ↑ A477 SCRR [@A477SCRR] (14 January 2014). "A477 Scheduled to open in early May 2014 See latest construction picture" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ "Section of A477 officially opens after £68m upgrade". ITV News Wales. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "£68million improvements to A477 brings benefits to the economy, tourism and local communities". Welsh Government News. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Abuse plea over toll collectors". BBC News. 3 September 2004. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  12. ↑ "Pembrokeshire toll bridge to be reviewed after complaint". BBC News. 4 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Pembrokeshire's Cleddau Bridge tolls to stay the same". BBC News. 13 May 2016.

Coordinates: 51°43′17″N 4°44′59″W / 51.7214°N 4.7496°W / 51.7214; -4.7496 (A477 road)

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