THE long-awaited Cwm bypass could be open next month, it was revealed yesterday.

The three-mile road, which runs from south of Waunlwyd to the A4046 roundabout at Aberbeeg, does not yet have an official date for opening.

But Cwm councillor Des Davies told the Argus he has been told that it could open in early February.

A spokeswoman for the authority said that contractors Mowlem are now in the process of finishing off the work, which has taken just over two-and-a-half years.

She said the finishing touches, such as putting up safety barriers, surfacing, street lighting and giving the area a general tidy up, were now being carried out.

The people of Cwm began campaigning for a bypass for their village several decades ago.

They had suffered for years from the effects of the heavy industrial traffic that roared through their small village, just yards from the terraced houses on Marine Street.

Residents said the road was a "dangerous bottleneck" and too narrow for the volume of traffic using it.

And in 2001, after staging numerous road protests in their fight for the bypass - even blocking the main road on occasion - they finally received the news that it would be built.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held in May, 2002.

Councillor Davies said the residents were looking forward to the opening.

"I think they will be very happy - it has been a long time," he said.

"There has been a lot of inconvenience from the work, with traffic lights, but if you want a job like this done there is going to be a mess for a while."

He added: "When I moved into the village in 1955 they were talking about a bypass then.

"It all seemed just a pipe dream but now it has come true."