The cause of the sinkhole that opened up on Cecil Road in Gowerton remains unknown, Swansea Council has confirmed, with temporary traffic lights now in place while highways teams continue to investigate — almost a month after residents first warned that the ground was sinking.
The local authority confirmed in a statement to Swansea Bay News that one lane of the B4296 between Gowerton and Dunvant remains controlled by temporary lights while officers work to establish what is causing the road to give way. Repairs will follow once the cause has been identified.
Council statement
Responding to questions from Swansea Bay News, the council said its highways team had attended the site after reports of a sinkhole forming at the junction of Cecil Road and Garrod Avenue.
“Our highways teams have recently attended Garrod Avenue/Cecil Road, following reports of a sinkhole,” the statement said.
“The road remains open to traffic and temporary traffic lights have been installed while investigations take place into the cause of the sinkhole.
“Once we have established the cause, repairs will be undertaken as quickly as possible.”
Reported a month ago
The council has now confirmed that the sinkhole was first reported to its highways team around a month ago. Officers responded to those initial reports and carried out a patch repair at the time — but the ground continued to move, opening up further over the bank holiday weekend and reaching the point at which one lane had to be closed and temporary lights installed.
The earliest public warning came from local residents on social media. Writing in a community Facebook group on 29 April, Gowerton resident Ramesy Awad said he had spotted a “new sinkhole appearing opposite Gowerton Comp,” describing a wet patch in the middle of the road that was visibly sinking by the day and “heading towards Garrod Avenue.”
Mr Awad said he had already reported the problem to local councillors the day before — and made what has turned out to be an accurate prediction: “Watch this space for a road closure in the near future.”
Four weeks later, that prediction has come true.
Councillors raised early concerns
In the same Facebook thread, Mr Awad confirmed he had contacted Labour councillor Cllr Louise Gibbard about the problem. He was also responded to publicly by Cllr Susan Jones, who said she had referred the matter to the council’s highways team for further checks.
Patch repair did not hold
The fact that a patch repair was carried out at the time of those initial reports — only for the ground to open up again weeks later — underlines why the council is now looking more closely at what is causing the road to subside.
A routine pothole or surface fault would normally be resolved by such a repair. The continued movement of the ground at Cecil Road suggests a deeper underlying issue, which is what highways officers are now working to identify.
Road remains open
The B4296 between Gowerton and Dunvant remains open in both directions, but drivers should expect delays through the morning and evening rush hours while temporary lights manage flow through the affected section.
The council has not yet given any timetable for completing the investigation, identifying the cause, or starting repairs.
Form for Gowerton sinkholes
This is not the first sinkhole to affect roads in the Gowerton area in recent years. In March 2024 a separate sinkhole forced the closure of another road in the area while investigations and repairs took place over the course of several days.
With the cause of the Cecil Road sinkhole still unknown and no timetable for repairs, residents and commuters using the B4296 face an indefinite period of disruption — a month after the first warning signs were spotted, and despite an earlier attempt to patch the road over.
