Cycling the grand canal

Grassey

I hope they put up an info board about the 4 pots, and 'market it' as a sight along the route, rather than a repair and job done

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120238773#Comment_120238773

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239295#Comment_120239295

The stretch from Ticknevin on to Edenderry would be as bad as most of those mentioned above and probably worse in a wet time.

The other issue I can see is maneuvering a cargo bike through the kissing gates on the improved section from Edenderry west

FinnC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239295#Comment_120239295

They were supposed to starting Adamstown to Hazelhatch last month. I presume it still hasn’t been started?

Seth Brundle

I don't believe it has @FinnC

mewso

I did Clondalkin to Lyons and back last Sunday and no work going on. Was able to put my new bike to the test though. I was hoping to try going all the way to Naas at some point but I'm assuming Kildare Co. Co. have started the work from Naas Golf club. Anyone know whats the point of no return when you are approaching. Kileen Golf Club?

FinnC

So frustrating to hear that they haven’t started the work yet from 12th lock to Hazelhatch.

nilhg

https://kildarecoco.ie/AllServices/Planning/PublicRealm/GrandCanalGreenway/Grand%20Canal%20Greenway%20.pdf

https://kildarecoco.ie/AllServices/Planning/PublicRealm/GrandCanalGreenway/Grand%20Canal%20Greenway%20Progress%20Update%20Feb%202023.pdf

Jimbo789

Is the route in Co. Offaly fully completed from Edenderry to Turraun with just Turraun to the Shannon to be completed?

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120251138#Comment_120251138

Yes, I think so, certainly to Pullough, I haven't been any further than that, yet...

2011abc

Hazelhatch to Adamstown was challenging enough on foot at the rock hard underfoot height of last Summer .I shudder to imagine it walking ,running or cycling in soupy weather

blueandgreen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239295#Comment_120239295

Thanks. The tyres would be 5.5 cm wide (so pretty wide). I'd be more concerned of the length of the bike. (I haven't actually bought it yet- am still thinking about it- this one: https://www.greenaer.ie/product/riese-muller-load-75-2023/

It's about 2 metres long

Roadtoad

Good luck getting that through a typical Inland Waterways kissing gate.

devonp

Hi

whats the section like from Edenderry to Daingean or even to just the turn off for Rhode ? for a road bike with 25c or even 28c ?

(did it years ago on an MTB...memory was a lot of grass track ?.. or maybe that was some other section?)

tnx

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120264388#Comment_120264388

Fully done, a mix of very good tarmac and the crushed limestone grit surface that's used where there is not local car traffic. 25s or 28s will be fine on it. The developed bit starts at the harbour in the town and goes west, the section from the horse bridge east is grass towpath.

Actually this picture shows it better and is pretty cool,

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.3290703,-7.0622148,3a,75y,262.88h,59.89t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPCSAiMt2PuM4Hvx0vBepI6oyYGO3_qLaY3ZPrT!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPCSAiMt2PuM4Hvx0vBepI6oyYGO3_qLaY3ZPrT%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya92.162994-ro-0-fo100!7i4096!8i2048

FinnC

I emailed SDCC yesterday inquiring about the 12th Lock to Hazelhatch section and they actually responded. Below is the email I got back.

This particular project is actually under the SDCC Economic/Tourism Development section. They have the following project update:

 

• The Tender Submissions are currently being reviewed with respect to appointing a Contractor. The works are scheduled to commence end Q1 2023 subject to approval of all stakeholders and the project shall take approximately 12 months to complete.

 

If you have any future queries in relation to this project I’d recommend contacting the County Promotion Unit by emailing econdev@sdublincoco.ie

 

Kind regards,

 

TooObvious

Hi All, I'm going to be cycling to Kilbeggan from Kill (Kildare) this Saturday on the Grand Canal, I haven't been on the Grand in a few years, it seems from the thread that a lot of work has been done on the surface so that's great news - but is it signposted so i don't end up on the wrong side for 10km?

Many thanks. TO

Roadtoad

Not exhaustively signposted, but fairly obvious if you check out the views at the bridges.

Roadside (skinny tyres) friendly W of Edenderry and for other parts of the journey from Ponsonby Bridge (W of Ardclough).

nilhg

Yes, it's more obvious than on the Royal, just be careful at Ballycommon that you take the north side to access the Kilbeggan section.

TooObvious

Thanks both - much appreciated.

Seth Brundle

Was along the Grand Canal earlier between Ponsonby Br (Straffan) and Henry Br (Ardclough and noticed that they've been upgrading the kerbing at the edge of the towpath as part of the upgrade works...

Ponsonby Br:

Henry Bridge:

Seth Brundle

Some photos taken on Devonshire Bridge beside Killeen Golf Club showing the progress so far with a fine grit layer down...

Looking SW towards Lock 14...

Looking NE...

michaelm

Late reply but just discovered this thread. Over the last week I have cycled from Pollagh to Edenderry. As most here probably know this is now complete. Good to see that work is underway from Turraun to Shannon Harbour. As of this week the work seems to be within a few kilometres of Shannon Harbour so I would imagine it won’t be too long before this stretch is complete.

Gerry

I'm using the grand a bit recently for commuting. Starting at adamstown. is it completed to a smooth surface any earlier, coming from celbridge direction? Heading up to adamstown is a bit annoying.

cletus

Again, not quite the Grand, but the Barrow Line offshoot, between Ummeras bridge and McCartneys lock.

Speaking to one of the engineers, he reckons middle of August it'll be completed. That's the last section to be completed between Robertstown and the back of Bert House, about two miles outside of Athy.

There also seems to be movement from Bert House into Athy itself, although it looks to be in the very early stages

nilhg

It started to rain today when i was out for my Sunday spin, I was south of Athy so I reckoned that the best way home was along the Blueway, I was able to go the whole way from the centre of Athy to Monasterevin on it or for a very small section right beside it. Good work too being done on the road crossings at the various bridges and especially the tarmac works under the bridges.

Some of the permanent gates have been installed too and I reckon they are a big improvement on the kissing gates on the mainline Grand Canal

Still some works going on close to Milltown bridge but you can take the public road which is right beside the works in the pictures here for about a KM and access the section of Blueway which runs to the Stradbally road from there.

You can see Milltown bridge in the first photo, the road is just the other side of the trees. The road is a cul de sac, so almost no traffic.

Some works too north of the Motorway bridge, they seem to be putting in a blueway surface right next to the road there too, again that bit of road is a cul de sac.

The last big piece to be finished before the blueway is complete is the section on the Robertstown side of Glenaree bridge, it's to be tarmacked but there has been no progress there since the sections either side were completed more than 2 years ago, the surface is rough and potholed an a significant obstacle to anyone on a skinny wheeled road bike, hopefully it'll be done soon.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120917312#Comment_120917312

I meant to mention the section under the motorway bridge outside Monasterevin, but as the road runs directly beside it, I skipped it.

I was curious about the potholed section from Glenaree to Robertstown. I presumed it had something to do with the house situated on it.

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120917382#Comment_120917382

Not so much the house but the farm on the side road has land and buildings both sides of the canal so they have to drive machinery back and forth, tarmac is the best solution, just taking too long to do it.

chazlan

Cycled from Monasterevin to Sallins today and thought I'd add in case someone is considering the same.

Section from McCartney Bridge Lock 24 North to the next bridge (3km) currently closed although it looks complete. Barriers fairly sturdy. Other side grass and not too wet.

The rest of the way to Robertstown (Grand Canal mainline) is a mix ofnew fine gravel, small roads and a small section of rough laneway - all passable on a road bike.

The next 5.5km from Robertstown until the Prosperous - Sallins road is all grass - the first km or two is fairly wet and heavy going.

From there - public roads adjacent the canal or option to take the opposite side which is a mix of grass and laneways to Sallins.

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120719978#Comment_120719978

we did a bit of the GC on a club spin yesterday. The section between Adamstown and The Hatch pub is single track, rocky in places, & quite overgrown. It's just about passable on a road bike in the dry but we were going at little more than walking pace. Fine on a MTB but not really usable for commuting.

https://www.waterwaysireland.org/Pages/Development-of-the-Grand-Canal-Greenway.aspx

Gerry

Sorry, I should have updated. Yeah I had that same experience except it was wet. It would have been more fun if I didnt have the laptop in pannier. really isnt suitable for commuting. wonder when this section will get sorted. hmm, says awaiting construction.. Ill be optimistic :)

morana

https://twitter.com/EM_Creative/status/1691183326415949824?s=20

Sorry Just realised I posted a royal canal journey in the Grand canal thread! Mod pls delete?

Ed has a few nice tweets about his journey. I was thinking about the train to longford (€20) and amble back to maynooth or if the day is nice all the way back to city centre.

niallo32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120719978#Comment_120719978

Between Adamstown and Hazelhatch bridge (around 4.7km) is mostly like this:

Then from Hazelhatch - Ardclough - Ponsonby bridge is all ok on a road bike and then it turns to gravels rocks per a recent post above

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120975608#Comment_120975608

It's really strange that that Waterways Ireland document mentions both the main line to the Shannon and the Kilbeggan branch but not the Barrow line, you'd wonder sometimes how the officials in those organisations think.

It looks as if the last dust section of the Barrow Blueway will open this weekend, at least the lads working on it thought so when I was talking to them yesterday morning, that will more or less complete the resurfacing works apart from a 1.3KM section east of Glenaree which is to be tarmacked. Another contractor is currently doing the road crossing works, working north from Athy and they are to do that when they get to it.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120986018#Comment_120986018

I got a sneak peak of that section between McCartney's and Ummeras bridge last night.

Coming from McCartney's lock, heading towards Rathangan;

The first ⅓ is completely finished

The next ⅓ has the sub base laid and compacted, ready to be dressed with the top layer.

The final ⅓ has sub base laid, but not yet compacted.

As a teacher, my engineering skills are not good enough to judge whether that work can be done in two days 😁

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120988938#Comment_120988938

Someone is spreading fake news so 😏

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120989112#Comment_120989112

Look, maybe that's only a day or two of work. Roll the last third, then spread and roll the dressing to finish it.

I'll head out there Saturday morning and have a gander

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120989769#Comment_120989769

I was down that way again this morning, the gates are still up but the surface seems to be finished, the pic below was taken through the wire, that surface runs right out to the road. All that seems to need doing now is to finish putting in the rest of the orange/white bollards and some tidying up where the roller is parked, the rest of the machines are perked off site.

FinnC

So that will be a complete off road path from Robertstown to Athy?

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120999656#Comment_120999656

Yeah. There's a section between Robertstown and Rathangan that's rough but rideable (Glenaree), otherwise gravel path the whole way. I'm heading down it myself as far as Athy today

FinnC

Will be great when Adamstown to Hazelhatch and Sallins to Robertstown is finished.

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120999682#Comment_120999682

Sallins to Edenderry would be even better😀

I can't for the life of me understand (even with Covid delays) why Kildare County Council have dragged their feet on their section of the mainline to the Shannon for so long. Even the Blueway is miles behind schedule with works stopping for months on end.

FinnC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120999669#Comment_120999669

How'd you get on going to Athy? Thinking of trying it out this weekend.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121016207#Comment_121016207

Apart from the headwind the whole way down, I got on fine 😂

The only part of the route I hadn't cycled before was from the Miltown bridge (basically the back of Bert House) into Athy itself. That section is almost complete, some machinery about, but easy to get access to it if you stay on the west bank (right hand side as you head for Athy). There's a switch to the left bank about halfway between there and Athy town.

The other sections are as have been previously discussed, with the possible exception that Ummeras to McCartney's lock should probably be opened at this stage 🙄.

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121016287#Comment_121016287

You can get down the RHS too, just take the road beside the canal down by where the ongoing works are (it runs right beside the canal and works), then take the completed section to the Stradbally road and on in to the town.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121017318#Comment_121017318

Thanks nilhg. I should probably have mentioned that I switched sides because my final destination was Ardree lock, just outside the town, on the left bank

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121017339#Comment_121017339

You can get across the river from the lock where the canal enters the river at the horse bridge, and cross the canal on the lock, it's hard to go wrong down there.

Dcully

Just back from a spin and came upon a shouting match between 8 or so lads under the motorway where the current work has come to a complete halt with numerous trailers and farm machinery blocking the ongoing work on that stretch between the foot bridge and the motorway bridge south of Monasterevin on the section between Monasterevin and Fisherstown.

I didnt dare take out the phone to record or take a photo but there was one of them recording it all.

Theres a couple of farm yards along that stretch of public road i heard initially when the blueway was announced one farmer in particular said he would everything possible to stop it.

Ive personally witnessed this guy deliberately spray slurry on this public road [cul de sac]over the winter last.

Seems a character not to be messed with 😮

If anyone is planning on heading this way over the weekend be aware of motorists driving on the blueway.

There are fresh signposts up with reference to fishing competition and please slow down.

I met plenty of cars driving to their fishing spots while out on a spin couple of months back.

Bit of a joke really, why cant they walk the 1km or so?

RunDMC

The towpath under Henry Bridge in Ardclough has been tarmacked, and the same under Ponsonby Bridge further west.

The rest of the towpath towards Sallins is still rough hardcore.

New gates installed at Devonshire Bridge on both sides of the road. These will be a pain when they are closed.

Most of the work seems to be focused on the Sallins end and the pedestrian bridge.

R

Seth Brundle

https://twitter.com/cyclistie/status/1696620715028406307?t=c1-w6JWMIApBS758GQOdgw&s=19

woohoo

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121044450#Comment_121044450

I haven't been in Sallins in a while. Where exactly is this going in?