A4232 road

The A4232, which is also known either as the Peripheral Distributor Road (PDR) () or the Cardiff Link Road (), is a distributor road in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.

The first section of the PDR to be completed was the Southern Way Link Road in 1978 and the latest section was phase 1 of the Eastern Bay Link Road, known as Ewart Parkinson Road in 2017. When fully completed, the road will form part of the Cardiff ring road system. The PDR runs west, south and east of Cardiff, with the M4 between junction 30 and junction 33 completing the northern section. The PDR is dual carriageway for its entire length except for Rover Way and the East Moors Viaduct, which is a single carriageway. The entire length of the road has clearway restrictions on it.

The PDR has been constructed in separate link roads of between and around Cardiff and to date including spurs have been opened to traffic, with plans for a further . It has 5 large viaducts (Ely Viaduct, Grangetown Viaduct, Taff Viaduct, Eastern Bay Link Viaduct and the East Moors Viaduct), 1 tunnel (Queen's Gate Tunnel) and 2 spur roads (Cogan Spur and Central Link Road). The road has many grade separated interchanges.

The section of the road between Junction 33 of the M4 and A48 at Culverhouse Cross is designated a trunk road in Wales and it's managed and maintained by the South Wales Trunk Road Agent. The remainder of the road is the responsibility of Cardiff Council.

History

The road was conceived in the early 1970s, and planning by South Glamorgan County Council began in the late 1970s. At that stage the road was planned to be completed by 1995 and would relieve Ely, Grangetown, Butetown and East Moors of through traffic and provide a fast link to the national motorway network via the M4 and A48(M). The first section of the PDR to be completed was the Southern Way Link Road between Newport Road (A4161 road) and the Eastern Avenue (A48 road) in 1978 and the last section of the PDR, the first phase of the Eastern Bay Link Road, which was opened to the public in June 2017.

The former chairman of the South Glamorgan County Council environment committee, Councillor Paddy Kitson, called the road a "necklace of opportunity" due to its shape and also the opportunities for regeneration.South Wales Echo, "Opening up southern Cardiff – Value of PDR", Wednesday 22 May 1985, Page 15 By 1 April 1996 the responsibility for the road was transferred from South Glamorgan County Council to the unitary authority of Cardiff Council. Much of the funding for the road had been grant aided from the European Community and the UK Government on the basis that it would improve the economic viability of the area and bring in new jobs and industry. However, since the completion of the Butetown Link Road, funding for further developments have been at a standstill, and to date including spurs are open to traffic with plans for a further . The "missing link", the second and final phase of the Eastern Bay Link Road, is still to be built.

Route description

The PDR has 3 separate sections: the Capel Llanilltern Interchange (M4 J33) to the Ocean Way roundabout, the Lamby Way roundabout to the Llanedeyrn Interchange (A48) and the Pontprennau Interchange (A48) to the Pentwyn Interchange (M4 J30).

The section from the Capel Llanilltern Interchange on the M4 (junction 33) to the Ocean Way roundabout is sometimes referred to as the Western Link Road (), is in length and includes the Capel Llanilltern – Culverhouse Cross Link Road, Ely Link Road, Grangetown Link Road and Butetown Link Road. For the majority of this section it is the boundary between the City of Cardiff to the east and the Vale of Glamorgan to the west.

{| class="wikitable" |- align="center" bgcolor="#00703C" style="color: #ffd200;font-size:120%;" | colspan="3" | A4232 (Trunk Road) |- align="center" !scope=col| Clockwise exits !scope=col| Junction / Interchange !scope=col| Anti-Clockwise exits |- align='center' | Bridgend, Newport, M4Exit only | M4 J33Capel Llanilltern InterchangeCardiff West services | Start of A4232 (trunk road) |- align='center' | No access or exit | St. Fagans | Museum of Welsh Life

This section partly opened in 1978, from the Lamby Way roundabout to the Llanedeyrn Interchange on the A48, is the oldest section of the PDR. It includes only the Southern Way Link Road, known locally as Southern Way, and is in length.

{| class="wikitable" |- align="center" bgcolor="white" style="color: black;font-size:120%;" | colspan="3" | A4232

The Pentwyn Link Road section from the Pontprennau Interchange on the A48 to the Pentwyn Interchange on the M4 (junction 30) is one of the newer sections of the PDR, having been opened in 1994; it is in length. The road between the Llanedeyrn Interchange to the Pontprennau Interchange is the A48 (Eastern Avenue); it too is a dual carriageway and is a concurrent road with the PDR; there are no plans to renumber this section of the A48.

{| class="wikitable" |- align="center" bgcolor="white" style="color: black;font-size:120%;" | colspan="3" | A4232 |- !scope=col| Clockwise exits !scope=col| Junction / Interchange !scope=col| Anti-Clockwise exits |- |colspan=3 align=center bgcolor="#ddffdd" |A48 |- align='center' | A48 | A48 Pontprennau | Start of A4232

Link roads

A map of all the link roads and spur roads can be seen by clicking Map of all coordinates opposite

Each section of the road was completed in separate link roads.

Capel Llanilltern – Culverhouse Cross Link Road

The £14.5 million Capel Llanilltern – Culverhouse Cross Link Road (), also known as the A4232 Trunk Road (as it is the only section of the PDR which is a trunk road), between the Capel Llanilltern Interchange () and the Culverhouse Cross Interchange () was opened in 1985. It was designed to provide a by-pass for traffic from the M4 to the Vale of Glamorgan. It is in length and includes the Ely Viaduct close to Michaelston-super-Ely. The trunk road is maintained by the South Wales Trunk Road Agency (SWTRA) on behalf of the Welsh Government. The remainder of the PDR is a primary route, which is maintained by Cardiff Council. In 2006 variable message signs were installed on the Capel Llanilltern – Culverhouse Cross Link Road by Techspan Systems to display warning messages about road and weather conditions, accidents, congestion and major events in the area.

Ely Viaduct

The Ely Viaduct () crosses over the River Ely and also the main South Wales railway line.

The viaduct is a twin-box girder and has central span of and side spans, constructed by the balanced cantilever method. It was constructed in segments, each weighing between 54 tons for plain segments and 93 tons for the main segments.

Ely Link Road The Ely Link Road () between the Culverhouse Cross Interchange () and the Leckwith Interchange (), sometimes referred to as the Leckwith Road Interchange. It is in length and was opened in 1982 and built by Davies Middleton & Davies Ltd (DMD). It was designed to relieve Ely of through traffic and partly cuts into Leckwith Hill.

Grangetown Link Road

The Grangetown Link Road () between the Leckwith Interchange () and the Ferry Road Interchange () was opened on 3 May 1988. It includes the Grangetown Viaduct.

Grangetown Viaduct

The Grangetown Viaduct () is approximately in length and is said to be the longest glued segmental bridge in the United Kingdom. It has 13 spans of with 2 end spans of and .

The viaduct was designed by South Glamorgan County Council. Robert Benaim and Associates, now called Benaim UK Ltd designed the initial launching system for the glued segmental structure.

Butetown Link Road

The Butetown Link Road () between the Ferry Road Interchange () and the Queen's Gate Roundabout () was opened on 27 March 1995 by Neil Kinnock at the time the European Commissioner for Transport. Construction of the link road commenced on 15 October 1993 and it was the last link road to be built before the Eastern Bay Link Road opened in 2017. It includes the Taff Viaduct, also known as the Butetown Link Road Bridge, and the Queen's Gate Tunnel, which is also known simply as the Butetown Tunnel.

In 1987 South Glamorgan County Council had intended to build a viaduct across the River Taff and then go onto an elevated section through Butetown "on stilts".South Wales Echo, "A direct route on stilts to the Bay", Wednesday 17 June 1987, Page 14 But the newly formed Cardiff Bay Development Corporation along with local residents objected to the scheme that they said would cut through Butetown and split the community, creating an unnecessary physical barrier between the two areas to the north and south of the link road. By 1988 South Glamorgan County Council had agreed to change the design of the link road, despite having already spent 6 years of design work on the link road meant that a tunnel had to be built instead.South Wales Echo, "Delay to link road will be at least one year", Tuesday 16 February 1988, Page 5 The cost of the Butetown Link Road was estimated to cost £35 million, but this had risen to £45M in 1988, before the design change.South Wales Echo, "A road that lost its way?", Wednesday 29 March 1989, Page 12

The contract to build the Butetown Link Road was eventually won by a local company Davies Middleton & Davies Ltd in a joint venture with an Italian contractor, Cogefar-Impressit UK Ltd. The bid of £60 million undercut all other bids by £10 million, Davies Middleton & Davies Ltd subsequently went into administrative receivership.

Queen's Gate Tunnel

A4232 road

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