Sally Gap Road Warning

Red Adair

Fao: All cyclists who use the Sally Gap from Annacarter X roads, outside Roundwood, to the top of the sally gap Wicklow County Council are carrying out surface dressing and re surfacing on this road and it will be closed until saturday at 1 pm. Take care thereafter for loose chippings.:P:cool:

godtabh

Change of plans for the weekend so.

micar

was up their today around 10am. Very dangerous!!!!!. Had no idea it was from Sally Gap all the way to annacarter. Had hope it was only for a short distance.

Just be very careful.

Zyzz

micar wrote: »

was up their today around 10am. Very dangerous!!!!!. Had no idea it was from Sally Gap all the way to annacarter. Had hope it was only for a short distance.

Just be very careful.

Went up there yesterday..mile after mile of loose chipping :mad::mad:

Agent Smyth

I hope they don't do the same to military road

Gasco

Encountered this last weekend - not nice.

The CC have also resurfaced the road from the long hill to Enniskerry and the T junction (at the Glebe I think) has a serious amount of gravel / chippings which almost caused me to come off. The resurfacing continues to just past the turn off to the Wall - care required.

Jk_Eire

Took that route today. Going left on the onto the R769 towards Lough Tay is fairly treacherous. Very difficult to get any kind of speed on the descents for fear of death! It was manageable enough though, albeit very unpleasant, going a cautious speed with hand on the breaks.

Plastik

Wicklow County Council really have done a bad job on that road. A lot of it didn't need to be done at all, only a few short sections. It will be a long time before I take the bike over Luggala while it's like that.

Meanwhile, the Council laid a billiard smooth stretch of tar on the coast road between Kilcoole and Newcastle this week.

godtabh

Lads trying to get my bearings. If I'm heading from Stepaside towards Johnny Foxes then to the sally gap and down to laragh. what are the roads like along there? I think its the r125

Plastik

godtabh wrote: »

Lads trying to get my bearings. If I'm heading from Stepaside towards Johnny Foxes then to the sally gap and down to laragh. what are the roads like along there? I think its the r125

To Laragh is fine. From Gap crossroads to Roundwood isn't.

godtabh

I'm planning gap, laragh, roundwood then home

ckeego

I'd really love to know why they are doing this.

There is a link road btween the two roads out of Ashford (one goes up the Devil's Glen, the other is an easier climb towards Vartry lakes) and they recovered this about a month ago-no warnings, down the road I went and tore 2 tyres and 2 tubes, because the cnuts didn't sweep the loose chippings

They have done this in various areas (as posted, a few that didn't need it) yet the road out of Newtown Mt Kennedy heading North towards the N11 STILL has yet to be touched (it's an accident waiting to happen the surface is so bad)

Cycled a lot around Kerry and W Cork over the last 2 weeks and the road resurfacing was a lot better and less dangerous-

Epic Fail Wicklow CC

ckeego

Those chippings that they are using are sharp little buggers too-like glass shards.

micar

The loose chippings are on the R759 from sally gap to the R755 junction. Applies to just over 9km.

portron niner

Are they going to leave the road like this? I was up there today & was considering going down that way but kept going for Laragh because of the mess. It's incredibly dangerous, I ran into a big patch of it coming into Enniskerry too, very hard to keep control of the bike.

micar

portron niner wrote: »

Are they going to leave the road like this? I was up there today & was considering going down that way but kept going for Laragh because of the mess. It's incredibly dangerous, I ran into a big patch of it coming into Enniskerry too, very hard to keep control of the bike.

Came across this as well. It's short but deadly. Cycled into a great big patch of the stuff. So lucky i didn't come off the bike

brayblue24

Plastik wrote: »

Meanwhile, the Council laid a billiard smooth stretch of tar on the coast road between Kilcoole and Newcastle this week.

Beware!
They did the same thing on Windgates southbound, tidying up all the potholes at the side of the road and then for some reaon ruined the effect by flinging loose chippings all over the crown of the hill

godtabh

You werent messing about the state of the roads. When I passed the Laragh/Roundwood crossroads i cam across the chippings for about 30m. I cant imagine it for 9km!

radia

Could be the CoCo's subtle way of deterring those nasty cyclists from blocking motorists' nice country roads!

loyatemu

they're supposed to come back after a few weeks and sweep any remaining loose material. They've done the road over Windgates (Bray-Greystones) recently as well - it was in fairly bad condition though, particularly along the edges.

hardCopy

It's a bloody ridiculous way to pave a road and should be banned

oflahero

Just bumping this as I was up that way yesterday, and couldn't believe how lethal it was. There's a bit on the (Sally Gap) crossroads itself that you have to navigate even if you don't want to take the Luggala road, and all ten metres of that was hairy in the extreme.

I've seen some roads marked 'loose chippings', but this is a different ballgame. The entire road is a mass of gravel.

I wouldn't take my motorbike on that road either, let alone a bike. You'd come off at the first corner.

I don't know what the rationale is - that the chips will 'bed in' over time? That worked out well on the Featherbeds road resurfacing, which is more of a boneshaker now than it was before.

Wicklow CC never had much money to begin with, and it's going to have even less now - an unfortunate corollary of a tragedy:
https://www.newstalk.ie/Wicklow-Council-pleads-guilty-over-deaths-of-two-firemen

uphillonly

I've ridden up three of the Sally Gap approaches in the last few days (avoided Lugalla/Roundwood approach thanks to this thread).

These three are still completely clear of WCC's road improvement efforts:

- North West - Blessington
- South - Laragh (Military Road past waterfall)
- North - Dublin via Featherbeds & Glencree

Still plenty of gravel free ascending & descending fun to be had in Wicklow.

DirkVoodoo

I passed the Windgates chippings last week. It's fine to cycle on, but since you are cresting the hill and being passed by traffic, keep your sunglasses on! Chippings were pinging off my frame and helmet as cars would speed past, I wouldn't fancy one to the eye.

listermint

oflahero wrote: »

Just bumping this as I was up that way yesterday, and couldn't believe how lethal it was. There's a bit on the (Sally Gap) crossroads itself that you have to navigate even if you don't want to take the Luggala road, and all ten metres of that was hairy in the extreme.

I've seen some roads marked 'loose chippings', but this is a different ballgame. The entire road is a mass of gravel.

I wouldn't take my motorbike on that road either, let alone a bike. You'd come off at the first corner.

I don't know what the rationale is - that the chips will 'bed in' over time? That worked out well on the Featherbeds road resurfacing, which is more of a boneshaker now than it was before.

Wicklow CC never had much money to begin with, and it's going to have even less now - an unfortunate corollary of a tragedy:
https://www.newstalk.ie/Wicklow-Council-pleads-guilty-over-deaths-of-two-firemen

to equate the funding of road works to the deaths of two fire fighters is outrageous. Wicklow CC have insurance for these sorts of tragedies. Frankly im quite surprised you made the ridiculous connection.

The roads are resurfaced this way just like the way the roads are resurfaced in most counties across ireland, Badly because of bad management of funds, bad staffing, bad training. Top heavy management, too many councilors sticking their oars in. And a redirection of any tax money into paying of bond holders and banking / bad state pension funds.

Money down a well.

seamus

Really roads maintenance should be taken off all of the councils and handed over to the NRA (who I believe only look after M & N roads). There's no good reason for councils to have this responsibility beyond local politicians being able to make a fuss about fixing the potholes.

At least that way there would be a uniform way of resurfacing a road.

The military road to Glencree shows just what a joke Wicklow CC are in the most dramatic fashion. You can see an actual boundary line between Dublin and Wicklow where the road changes from lovely smooth tarmac into a bone-shaking, almost offroad trail.

Agent Smyth

Thanks Seamus, have often wondered why the military road went from good to bad, never thought of it been the boundary line between Dublin and Wicklow and the respective councils.
I wonder if a cyclist had an accident due to the amount of gravel on these newly laid roads would they be able to sue the council for any damages if they hurt themselves ???

nomdeboardie

I experienced how much more pleasant it was to cycle this S-N rather than N-S, as pointed out in another thread, recently - slow uphill over the crap and down on the lovely smooth Dub section.

Next time DLRCOCO decides to remodel the Killiney Towers roundabout I'll hjiack* the equipment and drive it over to Wicklow...

*Spoonerised to avoid the attention of the CAI*

smacl

nomdeboardie wrote: »

I experienced how much more pleasant it was to cycle this S-N rather than N-S, as pointed out in another thread, recently - slow uphill over the crap and down on the lovely smooth Dub section.

Both makes a nice 80k going Ballyboden - Laragh - Ballyboden, great descents on either sides, though the road up L.Bray needs some serious attention. (i.e. not just a pile of gravel as per last year)

bazermc

Any body been up around Sally Gap and Luggala road this week, is it still bad?

I am hoping to do a loop from Dublin that way tomorrow as haven't been up that way in months

goose06

bazermc wrote: »

Any body been up around Sally Gap and Luggala road this week, is it still bad?

I am hoping to do a loop from Dublin that way tomorrow as haven't been up that way in months

Just back from Sallygap/ Lough Tay descent a lot of the gravel is gone but this nearly makes it worse as you start getting a bit of speed up then you see a load of loose chippings. I would have thought the heavy rain would have cleared more of it off.

Also there is a really cool Viking village on the sandy end of Lough Tay for that show Vikings, they are filming Mon-Wed this week so if you are up there this week might be worth stopping to watch for a while.

bazermc

goose06 wrote: »

Just back from Sallygap/ Lough Tay descent a lot of the gravel is gone but this nearly makes it worse as you start getting a bit of speed up then you see a load of loose chippings. I would have thought the heavy rain would have cleared more of it off.

Also there is a really cool Viking village on the sandy end of Lough Tay for that show Vikings, they are filming Mon-Wed this week so if you are up there this week might be worth stopping to watch for a while.

Cool thanks.

nomdeboardie

goose06 wrote: »

Just back from Sallygap/ Lough Tay descent a lot of the gravel is gone but this nearly makes it worse as you start getting a bit of speed up then you see a load of loose chippings. I would have thought the heavy rain would have cleared more of it off.

Also there is a really cool Viking village on the sandy end of Lough Tay for that show Vikings, they are filming Mon-Wed this week so if you are up there this week might be worth stopping to watch for a while.

Ah, interesting - I've never managed to see any actual activity there when I've passed by (not on a bike yet, though ). How did you know/ find out about the dates?

goose06

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Ah, interesting - I've never managed to see any actual activity there when I've passed by (not on a bike yet, though ). How did you know/ find out about the dates?

Chatted to one of the crew they were looking at angles for some long shots of the village and I stopped for a chat.

oflahero

listermint wrote: »

to equate the funding of road works to the deaths of two fire fighters is outrageous.

Thanks, I knew there'd be one. Good man.

feelo

There's loose chipings on the road leadiing up to powerscourt waterfall from the road to Enniskerry too. Lethal. I don't even understand why the CC do it as after about a month or so most of the chippings wind up in the ditch!

get on your bike

feelo wrote: »

There's loose chipings on the road leadiing up to powerscourt waterfall from the road to Enniskerry too. Lethal. I don't even understand why the CC do it as after about a month or so most of the chippings wind up in the ditch!

Was up that way this evening. Wtf are they at? Very strange road works

rollingscone

Probably bare minimum non-feasance defence.

If anyone sues, they can say they did the legally required maintenance.

get on your bike

rollingscone wrote: »

Probably bare minimum non-feasance defence.

If anyone sues, they can say they did the legally required maintenance.

They need to be told that they forgot the tar

rollingscone

That'd be misfeasance.

That the obligations were not carried out properly, much harder to argue and prove.

uphillonly

get on your bike wrote: »

Was up that way this evening. Wtf are they at? Very strange road works

No ones going to be getting any Strava PRs on the lower part of the Wall for a while.

We violated rule 5 and turned right off up to Glencree instead.

get on your bike

uphillonly wrote: »

No ones going to be getting any Strava PRs on the lower part of the Wall for a while.

We violated rule 5 and turned right off up to Glencree instead.

Have to check out that strava thingy

micar

was up there today. The road was much much better. The majority of the chipping have embedded into the road. However, you still need to be careful particularly the bends.

Endurance_man

How is the road now?

Are the chippings better?

route66

uphillonly wrote: »

No ones going to be getting any Strava PRs on the lower part of the Wall for a while.

We violated rule 5 and turned right off up to Glencree instead.

I attempted the full wall earlier in the week. I've done it many times and it's always tough but this week was different.

I did the walk of shame

On the lower section, I was getting wheelspin on the gravel - regardless of whether I was seated or standing. @ 0 km/h, the choice was to fall off or dismount. I went for the latter and kinda shuffled along for a bit before being able to get going again.

The surface of upper section of the wall (from the crossroads to Old Long Hill) was untouched, so no gravel and I ended up with a personal best on that section. Still crap overall, but just fine for a MAMIL

P.S. I don't want people to know I did the WOS, let's just keep it to ourselves please?

Wilson8

Just letting people know that I was cycling Sallygap - Roundwood direction today and lost control on some of those loose chippings. Came off the bike and broke my collar bone.

Still seems dangerous to me!

Beasty

Not a nice first post to have to make. Hope you recover quickly - and welcome - you should at least have a bit of time on your hands to get to "know" Boards

Mr.Fred

Wilson8 wrote: »

Just letting people know that I was cycling Sallygap - Roundwood direction today and lost control on some of those loose chippings. Came off the bike and broke my collar bone.

Still seems dangerous to me!

Sorry to hear that man, hope you're resting up.

Thanks for the heads up.

Wilson8

Thanks guys. Just wish I had seen this thread earlier!

AltAccount

Surely there's some kind of lawsuit there for providing an unsafe road surface. If you can get the council to pay for a new alloy for your car if it gets banjaxed in a pothole, there must be a liability on their part.

a148pro

Also there's a disproportionately high number of cyclists who use those roads relative to your average road (I would think anyway, never much motorised traffic up there)