commuting from Wicklow town

shaungil

Folks,

Any1 out there commute from Wicklow town to Dublin city centre at rush hour.

Might need to do it Monday morning and have only ever done it at quiet times. Normally up to Ashford and old road till I go on Dual carriageway to Bray turn off and in via Blackrock. Or would I need to go old road up to Greystones?

Any thoughts?

Thx

shaun

seamus

The N11 is very exposed and has a lot of fast-moving HGV traffic, I would personally avoid using it unless it offers a very clearly more direct route. I don't know the old road (or indeed the N11) that well, so I couldn't say if it does or not. If the time saving using the N11 is of the order of 15 minutes, you'd be better off on the old road. If it saves an hour though, that's a judgement call.

In weather like we have at the moment, the N11 is no-go for bikes.

That's a savage commute, fair dues to you. I'd be personally considering driving to Bray and cycling in from there.

Edit: Quick google maps dohickey suggests that taking the old road to Bray and then onto the N11 is technically shorter, so may be quicker, but you will have traffic lights that you don't get on the N11. But it also doesn't have slip roads that you have to cross.

Cookie_Monster

Train and bike from the station now that it's allowed?
Yes it more expensive but if the weather doesn't improve that'll be one horrid cycle.

xz

Coast road from Rathnew to Greystones, would be longer and and hillier than going direct on N11, if you plan correctly, and have time on your hands, I would go old road through Ashford(Cullenmore), out onto N11 at end of this road, take the very next exit, past Newcastle hospital and into Newtownmountkennedy, back onto N11, then next exit at McDyers (Jocks) pub and follow road to the Grove Bar. Turn right, just before the Grove Bar and down the hill back onto N11, through Glen of the Downs and onto Bray.
This is the route that Bray Wheelers take back to Bray from Ashford, cuts out as much of the main N11 as possible, making for a safer, quieter ride

loyatemu

Wicklow-Greystones road is not that hilly, though the surface between Rathnew and Newcastle is that energy-sapping surface-dressed chippings. Obviously there's a bit of a hill between Greystones and Bray.

The N11 is horrible to cycle on though and you can only actually use short stretches of it since parts of it were designated mway. The coast road is only about 1K shorter though according to Google so the N11 is probably quicker.