Closed roads
There used to be a thread on here highlighting closed roads that are likely to cause problems for cyclists. After my debacle this afternoon I thought I'd re-start it...
As I discovered this afternoon, the A607 / Syston Road (south of Sileby) is closed between Cossington and Syston so that they can re-build the bridge over the railway. The signs (which don't appear until you're really very close to the closure) say it's closed until April 2017.
The bridge has been demolished, so there's no way across even on foot, and the signed diversions (straight up the A46!) are not ideal for bikes. Even the shortest go-around from the south adds at least 5 miles to your route, so I suggest giving it a wide berth.
Another one for the list - the road from the Via Gellia to Middleton Top is closed while they re-build the road-side walls. According to the Derbyshire CC website it's is closed until mid-October. (You might be able to walk through, but you certainly can't ride it.)
There are a bunch of road closures up in the near Peak at the moment, as we discovered this morning. Part of the Via Gellia is closed, so there's no access from Cromford up to Longcliffe (even by bike). And Manystones Lane (along the ridge above Brassington, past the wind turbines) is closed as well. I think you could probably get through that one on a bike if you wanted to, but given the howling headwind we didn't try to find out...
Presume most people know the bridge between Stanford and Normanton is out on the return leg of the TdL, there is a pedestrian bridge so its passable but a faff.
Digging this thread back up to warn people that the road between East Leake and West Leake is closed for work on the railway bridge. The TT circuit is unaffected (the closure is after the Dark Lane junction), but on the routes like the club commute people will need to go straight on at the Star pub and detour via Brickyard Lane.
Not sure exactly how long it's closed for (the signs and the council website give different dates), but will be most of the summer at least.
Not exactly a road, but the path through at the end of Thane Road (near the Boots HQ) that drops down to the canal is closed for the foreseeable future. This gets used a lot on the routes back from the tues/thurs chaingang and also many club rides that return home from the Bridgford/Ruddington direction.
You can still get onto the canal but you need to turn right just about opposite the entrance to the Power Soccer League.
One more for the list this morning - Manystones Lane is closed at the Brassington junction (on the sportive route, above Wirksworth). They were digging a big trench in the road and you couldn't get through unless you were willing to carry your bike about 500 yards. Looks like pretty major work, best avoided for at least a few weeks.
Also, they've chip-and-sealed the main road up from Trowell through Ilkeston, all the way to the cross-roads at Stanley Common. 🙄 No road markings most of the way, tons of loose gravel, etc. Traffic should sweep it clean in a week or two, but it's horrible at the moment.
On a positive note, Lawn lane from Six hills lane down to Station road, Old dalby has been properly resurfaced, if you want to see how it should be done and enjoy a fast, smooth descent get there whilst its fresh!
I wonder how much more that costs per mile than chipping?
More good news.
Via Gellia is closed to traffic for 50 metres at the Cromford end, but passable on foot. Very quiet, I rode up to Longcliffe and only had one car pass me!
Lovely.
And to keep this thread going...
Kegworth road (Between Kegworth and Long Whatton) is closed for six months until June 2018...
Also on the TdL route, Slash Lane (between Sileby & Mountsorrel) was closed due to flooding when I rode home from work on Friday. Not sure how bad it is, but probably best avoided for a while.
Also, for anyone (just me?) travelling to Leicester, Loughborough Road is closed at the exit from Red Hill circle for major work on the bridge over the Soar. It's closed to all city-bound traffic until September, and will be closed both ways for another two months after that. The diversion is down the (very busy) A6, so plan accordingly.
Another closure in Leicestershire, just off the TdL route. Roecliffe Road (along the side of Cropston reservoir) is closed from the junction with Swithland Road all the way to the junction with Leicester Lane / Bradgate Road.
It's nominally open for access and you can get through on a bike, but there are big holes dug all over the place and you will probably have to get off and walk in places. The closure is almost two miles from end to end, so best avoided for at least a few weeks.
The underpass by the fishing river by the roundabout after the chinese buffet place, at the bottom of the road up to East Mids Airport... that's flooded. Sorry I can't be more specific on location :-)
Dragging this thread up - as we found out last night, Eaton Bank is closed for major (water) works between Little Eaton and Duffield.
It was OK a couple of weeks ago, but they've now dug several large and deep holes and there's no way for cars to get through. You can still pass with a bike, but the surface is terrible (lots of exposed/raised ironworks) and you'll have to get off and walk at one point. Closure is scheduled until mid-August, probably best avoided for at least three or four weeks.
Contrary to Rich’s experience, Eaton Bank was fine, some raised steel plates that are about an inch high but hop them or just plough over them!
I made it through the works on Eaton Bank last Monday without too much hassle (5 meters of pushing my bike on the pavement), but I imagine it can change day by day depending on what they’re doing.
I also made it over the new kegworth bypass to Long Whatton yesterday - only because there are no workers there on the weekend. It’s definitely still closed. I had to sneak through the fences on the left side of the road, and then there’s 250m of gravel as you go over the hill before you get to the the section they’ve surfaced. Plenty of locals up there walking their dogs and checking out the new road.
One new road closure to me was the hill down to Stonehurst farm, going under the railway bridge. That road is definitely closed, it’s just a huge pile of bricks, but there’s a footpath to the right that takes you through some gravel works (or something) and you end up at the mini roundabout on the main road through Mount Sorrell.
Finally, Tickow Lane, going out of Shepshed is still sign posted as closed but was easily passable yesterday. Again, it’s probably going to be less passable when workmen are there with diggers - still got a big open trench.
Oh, and there was a road closure sign in Normanton for this weekend - suspect it might have been overnight. No sign of any work, can’t imagine whatever they’re doing will be too hard to get around on bike.
Eaton Bank was still get-off-and-walk in places last night - wasn't possible to get through without going up on the pavement. From George's comment it seems like it's better at the weekends, but probably best avoided midweek for now.
Update on George's not above about Stonehurst Farm - if you take the turning before the usual road, this takes you down to the village - turn left and you will get to the SF about half a mile along.
PS: Granites at the top of the hill before you turn down is a better café than SF in my opinion, with decent outside tables bike racks etc.
The junction between Wilford Lane & Ruddington Lane (far side of Clifton Bridge) is closed for resurfacing, and Ruddington Lane is officially closed from the junction all the way to the tram tracks. You can still get through most of the way on a bike, but at the junction you have to walk along the pavement for a short stretch to get around the resurfacing work.
Second one from today too: there are signs up saying that the road to Cafe Ventoux from the north (Wood Lane) is going to be closed for two weeks from Aug 20 (tomorrow). No idea how extensive the closure will be, but worth checking if you’re planning a ride there - if you can’t get through the detour will be quite long.
There are some roadworks (looks like drainage) on the road to Ingleby. I was allowed through on the grass verge but it was quite muddy. There is a diversion for cars in place and if I went that way again I’d take the diversion, nothing in it really having looked at it on a map.
Shepshed bypass via Ticklow Lane's navigability has been in flux for some time, last week there wasn't contiguous tarmac, passable, but not sensible since there are alternatives.
Mark, what does that mean exactly, cos google show ashby rd over M1 closed till Jan. Do you mean Whatton Rd?
Kegworth bypass is open and so is whatton road (I think) but there is now a dog leg in it and you have to cross the bypass
I see now, looks like completely new road over M1. Is there cycle facility along it so that you could get to either the airport road or Lockington (though the latter I think may be a while longer yet!)
Not sure about cycle facility but the road is very wide.
The problem is when you get to the A453 east side of the M1 its just car car car.
There are also major road works in Ilkeston for the next few weeks - the big roundabout at the top of the hill and all the surrounding roads are being resurfaced. Full closures evenings and overnight, and no surfaces on some of the roads, until at least the end of November. Best avoided if possible.
One quite close to home; looks like Devils Elbow / top end of Town Street will be closed from 11 Feb for 7 weeks.
It would be a bit of a disappointment to climb to the top only to have to turn around and go down again, whichever direction you get to it!
Apparently it will still be open to cyclists and pedestrians, so it will probably be slow going, if a bit safer even over that period.
On Six Hills Lane towards Wartnaby, the road is most definitely closed to traffic for roadworks, probably just temporarily at the weekends while there is no work going on. There are traffic lights on either side that don't give the game away but the stretch in between was barricaded off. We resorted to unhitching the barriers, walking the bikes through and then porting them over the fence on the other side. No way around for pedestrians either though they probably don't get many on that stretch.
Today I spotted that everyone's favourite Bridle Lane is closed at the top exit near Upper Hartshay (and it's properly closed/dug up for gas works). Signs say the work is planned to end 31st March.
Obviously you would have to be nuts to go up Bridle Lane anyway, but I thought I'd mention it here, just in case. I was taking the far more sensible route through Heage :)
Col de Plumtree is currently closed to traffic while they are doing roadworks. Closed by barriers both ends, plenty of room to get by on a bike but NO CARS! Worth getting out there just for the fun of it!
Apologies for the upside down photo!
Portway (from Coxbench up to Holbrook) was closed this morning. There's been a collapsed wall there for months which I guess they are repairing - didn't fancy the climb to see if bikes could get through or not.
