Rhigos Mountain Road to close for five nights to carry out repair work following large wildfire

The Rhigos mountain road that connects people living in both the Rhondda and Cynon Valley will be closed for five evenings next week to enable repair work to take place.

It comes after a large grassfire caused damage in the summer of 2022.

The work will include removing large stones which have fallen from the "rockface and collected in an area of the mesh", the council said.

It adds it is "close to full capacity and needs to be cleared urgently as a matter of safety".

An inspection of around 1,500 metres of the hillside was undertaken in June 2023to help design the main repair scheme – which could take place next summer.

However, it also identified several defects, which Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said "needs to be rectified sooner".

Those repairs will take place between 13-17 November from 9.00pm to 6.00am, dependant on weather conditions, with a full road closure to ensure safety, the council said.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council added a "recent inspection of the hillside affected by last summer’s wildfire has helped inform the ongoing design of next year’s major works scheme to rectify the damage".

The statement continued: "It was also made clear that the inspection could find issues that need addressing sooner than next year, and that is the case with an area of the rock netting which is close to capacity with large stones that have fallen.

“This area of concern is being rectified at the earliest opportunity, in the week commencing Monday, November 13 – and the full road closure that is required has been arranged at night-time to minimise the disruption to commuters.

"The remaining damage will be rectified in 2024/25, and the Council will provide further information about those works in due course.”

Alternative route for motorists will be clearly signposted, the council added.

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