Swansea

This article is about the city.
For the Highway Authority, see Swansea Council.

Swansea / Abertawe is a coastal city in southwest Wales and the country's second most populous locality. The M4 motorway runs along the northern edge of the city's main built-up area.

Swansea's place in world transport history is assured as it is was the home of the world's first passenger railway, the Mumbles Railway, which opened to fare-paying passengers in 1807. It was initially horse-drawn, with steam traction arriving in 1877 - well after the Stockton to Darlington Railway - and electric traction in 1929. The line closed in 1960. Much of the former trackbed forms the promenade around Swansea Bay.

City Centre Major Routes

Swansea was bombed extensively during the second world war, and much of the medieval street pattern disappeared during rebuilding in the 1950s. Two new thoroughfares were built in the 1950s - Kingsway and Princess Way. Built as dual carriageways, they, together with West Way (dualled in the 1980s) and the A4067 Oystermouth Road formed a tight ring around the city centre, though it has never been signed as a ring road. In recent years Kingsway and Princess Way have both been altered such that they no longer provide a useful ring road function. In the case of Princess Way, the northern part has been closed to reduce severance across the main retail area.

Sub-urban major routes

The A483 forms the main cross-city route, commencing just outside the city boundary at M4 junction 42, heading west along Fabian Way past the new University Campus and the docks to a pair of bridges across the River Tawe. From here the route heads north through Dyfatty, and Cwmbwrla along Carmarthen Road through to Fforestfach, and then continuing as Pontarddulais Road to M4 junction 47.

The A4067 runs from Oystermouth along the foreshore of Swansea Bay until it meets the A483 at the Tawe bridges. It then runs north in a multiplex with the A4217 before continuing west of the River Tawe onto Morriston and the M4 junction 45 and on through Clydach and Pontardawe, leaving the Swansea urban area further up the Swansea Valley. The A4217 runs east of the Tawe, meeting the A48 between Morriston and Llansamlet.

The A4118 heads west from the A483 at Dyfatty, marking the northern edge of the city centre area, then continuing through Uplands, Sketty, Killay and Upper Killay and onto the Gower. It is the main access to the western parts of the city.

The A4216 forms the main north-south distributor on the west sie of the city, commencing on the A4067, then running north through Sketty and onto the A483 at Fforestfach. The route becomes unclassified (probably a C road) but provides a good onward route towards the B4489 Llangyfelach Road which continues north to M4 junction 46. Finally, once the most important through route in the area, the A48 runs just to the south of the M4. It remains a busy road but is mainly used by local traffic.

Major Bypass

The M4 runs to the north of the city. Junctions 44 to 46 opened in 1972 and bypassed the A48 through Morriston. Junction 46-49 opened in 1977. The Swansea section of the M4 remained isolated from the rest of the M4 for nearly 20 years, eventually linking up in the mid 90s when the section between J42 and 44 was converted to motorway by upgrading the 1950s built A48 dual carriageway, and the remaining section of A48 from Port Talbot and over the 1950s Briton Ferry Bridge was bypassed by a new section of motorway.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
M4	Carmarthen / Caerfyrddin	Accessed via A483
M4	Port Talbot, Cardiff / Caerdydd	Accessed via A483
A48	Pontarddulais
A48	Morriston / Treforys
A483	Cardiff / Caerdydd, Port Talbot, Neath / Castell-nedd, (M4 (E))
A483	Carmarthen / Caerfyrddin, Llanelli
A484	Llanelli
A4067	Gower / Gŵyr
A4067	Pontardawe, (M4)
A4118	Gower / Gŵyr
A4216
A4217	Llansamlet
A4230	Skewen / Sgiwen
B4290	Neath / Castell-nedd
B4291
B4295	Gowerton / Tre-gŵyr
B4433	Mumbles Pier / Pier y Mwmbwls
B4489
B4593	Caswell Bay
B4603
Ferry	Cork