Views on Applewood Heights road closure

snowbabe

Ok,don't want to get into any arguments here at all,but am really interested to hear anyones/everyones views on the proposed closure of the top of Applewood Heights at Blacklion??
A gathering of signatures is almost done.Not too sure what happens next.Just looking for views really,I tend to use both roads(applewood and blacklion) myself equally depending what part of town I'm heading to and what time.
Or in fact does anyone even care?except people living in direct proximity to the roads????
All community spirited comments welcome:)

pixbyjohn

This was tried before but didn't go ahead because of public opinion. Must be about 10 or 12 years ago I think.

snowbabe

Yes,by all accounts it has been tried a few times,but this time they seem to have alot of signatures in favour of it.I don't really know the history of it.Alot of people say with children going to St Lawrences use it to get to the town and tescos quicker than say using the new road.I don't know if planning permission would be needed for this,I would assume so.Am also thinking it would be very difficult to get out of Applewood if the residents have only one option open to them.

vinpaul

snowbabe wrote: »

Yes,by all accounts it has been tried a few times,but this time they seem to have alot of signatures in favour of it.I don't really know the history of it.Alot of people say with children going to St Lawrences use it to get to the town and tescos quicker than say using the new road.I don't know if planning permission would be needed for this,I would assume so.Am also thinking it would be very difficult to get out of Applewood if the residents have only one option open to them.

Didn't know about this proposal to close off exit from Applewood Heights to Blacklion. Surely, Fire & Ambulance Services won't be too pleased to have just one entrance and exit to an estate with so many homes. Gardai would also have an input to this proposal. Has it been thought out properly. This should be opposed by all. Think of the pressure on the lower exit with all traffic entering and exiting at just one junction. Not to mention the chaos that would ensue at the Blacklion interchange. A very unwise decision by whoever is behind this daft plan.

The Bishop Basher

Wouldn't be a fan of this at all

The road from the Vets to Roche's is already over congested as it is. It's a nightmare trying to get in and out of the entrances there.

I assume this is being driven by the Applewood Residents. I can't imagine there's an issue with cars speeding given the insane ramps at regular intervals all the way down through the estate.

snowbabe

Your assumption would be correct.Apparently alot of the residents have agreed to the closure.The police also apparently agree with the closure.And yes,cars are speeding,childrens safety etc.......It has also been discussed that Applewood has the biggest ammount of house breakins in Greystones....1 in 3 houses have been burgaled at some time or other,so if the road was closed the thieves might get snared in the traffic jams:rolleyes:
Personally I think that it would seriously conjest the lower end, and Blacklion when school dropoffs occur.The other thing i would be very concerned with in the case of bad weather(I know it's not often) If windgates is shut off the closest other access to Greystones is Delgany.The next one would be the new road towards Charlesland,either way it will limit alot of people travelling.Also AH is a skating rink in the poor weather,and no access would be available through Blacklion.This incidentally was cleared extremely quickly last winter.
Mind you after all I suppose there is pros and cons to everything.Does anyone know what the process would be,does majority rule here???because i really believe this would be of concern to alot of people not in the immediate vicinity

mirrorball

I believe barriers that can be removed by the emergency services would be used. I wouldn't expect much congestion at the vets - the only source of traffic would now be the AH residents. The Blacklion junction might get messy though and the last thing the road and footpath past Kelly's farm need is more traffic. Lethal spot.

snowbabe

Just thinking,doesnt rathdown also only have one exit?wonder if there are the same ammount of residents there,anyone know?roughly 200 houses in AH,also wonder how many cars that equates to with perhaps 2 cars in a house.It's a really hard decision.....I can see this getting legs either way t's alot of different peoples opinions to take into consideration.

Annasopra

This is a bit unclear - who exactly is proposing this? The residents? The council?

mirrorball

Was the road between Kenmare Heights and Grattan Park ever open to through traffic? Applewood residents in favour of the closure could probably argue that it's a similar situation.

snowbabe

It's the residents assoc who are getting signatures Not too sure about Kenmare,sorry.I wonder if wcc has the final say,all a bit confusing,dont know where it goes after the gathering of signatures really.

luapenak

I think it's a good idea, although I would have to change my route to work.
Last time this issue was properly raised, they built those ramps. Wish they had just closed the road in the first place.

Charlie-Bravo

snowbabe wrote: »

I wonder if wcc has the final say,...

If the estate is 'in charge' by the council, then the Roads Department would have the final say. Sure, they're busy spending their budget at the moment on Bellevue Road, so you might have to wait till next year's budget - If it does get the green light, keep an eye out for activity this time next year before their financial year end!

The Guide

snowbabe wrote: »

I wonder if wcc has the final say.....

There you go Astrofluff - fixed it for you!

Charlie-Bravo

The Guide wrote: »

There you go Astrofluff - fixed it for you!

I knew you'd get me back!

pixbyjohn

mirrorball wrote: »

Was the road between Kenmare Heights and Grattan Park ever open to through traffic? Applewood residents in favour of the closure could probably argue that it's a similar situation.

Yes the road between Beechbrook/Kenmare Heights and Grattan Park was originally open to through traffic.

Jammyc

No way could the back road cater for the extra traffic that would come of this. On top of that, the road closure between Kenmare and Kindlestown has caught a few ambulances out over the years, adding maybe 5 minutes on to a journey time. The residents have already slowed traffic immensely in Applewood with the roadblocks speed bumps, if they're still concerned about their children, why not build an enclosure/fence along the road side of the grassy area that the kids play on, or maybe a designated crossing and teach their kids to use it?

snowbabe

Do you really think alot of traffic would be on the back road?I suppose at school drop off and collection times from Lawrences it would.....
Thanks Astroturf, it would be the road authority so.But as you say they have no money.The proposals are bollards,so cheap in the scheme of things,but then junctions at Blacklion and end of AH would probably need to go in,I'd say(totally uninformed). Don't think it's a matter of just popping up Bollards,but then I dont have a clue,we might see some councillors getting involved shortly

pixbyjohn

Does anyone know how many accidents occured in Applewood Heights over the years. I certainly haven't heard of any but that doesn't mean there were none.

snowbabe

No,haven't heard of any.But at the same time don't really want to either.Those ramps are huge,surely that's slowing down traffic.I'd really like to see reports on traffic numbers and also speeds,mind you at the top of AH have seen and heard quite a few wheels squealing wheels,and also on blacklion road,the cars really go at speed!!!

mirrorball

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Does anyone know how many accidents occured in Applewood Heights over the years. I certainly haven't heard of any but that doesn't mean there were none.

I've seen two accidents at the top, neither with any injuries. One guy drove straight into and over one of the traffic calming bollards. Made a right mess of the bollard which took swift revenge on the underside of the car when the driver tried to reverse off it. It required all sorts of lifting and winching to free it.

You do get very large lorries using the route but at least the ramps are slowing them down. This might be better than have them go barreling down Chapel Lane to Blacklion.

youknowwho

I remember 2 accidents in AH growing up involving kids on bikes and both ended up in hospital.

As for the road closure it has always been in WCC's plans. Has anyone ever wondered why the is such a substantial interchange at Readford and a substantial raod up past Lidl simply to service a small estate? Next time take a look at where it heads.

The plan - included in the 2006 - 2012 local area plan - back when WCC could pin the costs or the works themselves on developers was for the road past Lidl to continue all the way throught to the junction at Delgany Woods. In fact over the last year or so, WCC and Woods have completed the far end with the construction of the roundabout allowing traffic to bypass Delgany village.

Townpark Estates bought Kelly's land and were to continue the road that stops at Blacklion Manor through to merge into the Blacklion to Delgany road a few hundred metres west of the existing Applewood entrance. They initially had billboards up about the developement but took them down after the recession set in.

When Kelly's sold the land the family built a house / converted a barn at the top of the old farm and the entrance - which is on the right as you head for Delgany just before the ESB substation - is recessed back from the existing road showing the line the new road would have taken.

The road would have closed off the AH entrance, and the road from Blacklion which was to turn NW after Kelly's farmhouse would form a T junction with the new road.

The road was also to bypass St Laurences by going through the entrance of Dromont and emerging at the second tight bend after the school leading down to the roundabout; would have made the school drop off's easier with no through traffic to contend with.

It would essentially be a distributor road leading to Killincarrig. See the attach link showing Road Objectives 2 and 3

http://www.wicklow.ie/Apps/WicklowBeta/Publications/Planning/GreyDelganyLAP/Adopted%20Plan/GDLAP_7.pdf


Given the lack of developer's funds now I can only imagine that WCC will do this in a piecemeal manner and make a mess of it.

eilo1

I grew up in AH and the family are still there. None of us want this to go ahead as its very convienent to get out at the top and bottom of the estate. There is also concern about traffic build up at the blacklion exit.

Speeding cars is not a concern here. The residents association are pushing this through on the grounds of reducing the number of burglaries in the estate.

LEIN

eilo1 wrote: »

The residents association are pushing this through on the grounds of reducing the number of burglaries in the estate.

Do they believe that will stop criminals?

eilo1

Damo9090 wrote: »

Do they believe that will stop criminals?

My Mum had a knock on the door asking her to sign the petition because some of the residents and the gairdi believe that its easier for criminals to escape from the estates two entrances.

Personally our house has never been burgled. However our next door neighbors where robbed twice. On one occasion it looked like the robbers came in via the back garden from kindlestown. They only took money and jewlery so it was easy to carry.

Jammyc

The main issue that I would have is that, in true WCC fashion, they'd close the entrance off before rolling out the new road.

Dunphus

If it's the top of Applewood heights at the junction with chapel road, then these roads are local roads which are handled by the town council rather than regional roads which are a responsibility of the county council. No?

Blandpebbles

Apparently 17 houses were robbed in Redford park last month, which has one entrance... So good luck with that. Maybe this will provide a precedent to close the Redford rathdown alley... One can only hope.

Huntthe

Jammyc wrote: »

No way could the back road cater for the extra traffic that would come of this. On top of that, the road closure between Kenmare and Kindlestown has caught a few ambulances out over the years, adding maybe 5 minutes on to a journey time. The residents have already slowed traffic immensely in Applewood with the roadblocks speed bumps, if they're still concerned about their children, why not build an enclosure/fence along the road side of the grassy area that the kids play on, or maybe a designated crossing and teach their kids to use it?

I grew up In Applewood and my parents are still there. Their house was burgled. I suspect the ****ers came over the wall from kindlestown. I am against closing the road. It can take long enough to get out at the bottom as it is. On the other hand I think your missing the point of a housing estate. I think most people would acknowledge that the purpose of an estate is to provide a safe environment for familys to live. Penning the kids into grassy areas is not my idea of progress.Children should not be seen as an inconvenience to traffic and residents have a right/duty to control traffic (nearly got run over a few times myself before those ramps went in)

snowbabe

Keep loosing my posts:mad:Thanks everyone for the very valid views,as far as I can see there are alot of people against it.
I was told the road is a national road,which means we would all have a vote on it,not just the residents of AH.
The thefts are a bit worrying though.......but I wonder how many of the houses had alarms????They say one in three houses have been burgaled:eek:I also don't know the time frame.
The 17 in Redford is also shocking:eek: and they have only one entrance/exit.So police havent stopped any of them.
The children have 2 huge greens to play on where there is no through traffic,and I'm assuming they have back gardens.I also wonder in fact how many young children there actually are i AH and what age.Because if they are very young and young familys when they bought they would have been aware of the road being an open one!!!!!!Don't know what my point is there:)
The road would also be cut off at the top of AH leaving houses in Chapel View with access to the Blacklion road.
I seem to be doing alot of wondering......perhaps more will become clear if and when a local rep will get on board.....must check their sites to see if there is a murmur

loyatemu

Dunphus wrote: »

If it's the top of Applewood heights at the junction with chapel road, then these roads are local roads which are handled by the town council rather than regional roads which are a responsibility of the county council. No?

no - all non-private roads in Greystones are under the control of Wicklow Co. Co. Greystones Town Council is responsible for literally nothing, it's just a talking shop.

Dunphus

loyatemu wrote: »

no - all non-private roads in Greystones are under the control of Wicklow Co. Co. Greystones Town Council is responsible for literally nothing, it's just a talking shop.

Ah fair enough, that's not the case with Bray anyway as I know they have a roads department but I take it Greystones only has one town engineer and no other departments. Which is a shame as I recently read that town councils were the most efficient elements of local governments.

I don't live in Applewood but from what I gather it's a short sighted solution, the robberies are a sign of the times, there's no guarantee that closing that entrance would reduce them. Then again it's not my house that would be robbed