Lee Wood Rd, Heptonstall closed for major repairs

[classic33]

That's interesting, the straightening part that is. Do you mind if I ask where you heard or read that?

Budget Consultation meeting. In which the question was raised are the roads on the route going to be brought up to standard.
"Talks have been held with the organisors with regards the route through calderdale and the work required to bring those roads upto standard"
This includes the top, where it meets the A58, reservoir on one side.

 

[ColinJ]

Budget Consultation meeting. In which the question was raised are the roads on the route going to be brought up to standard.
"Talks have been held with the organisors with regards the route through calderdale and the work required to bring those roads upto standard"
This includes the top, where it meets the A58, reservoir on one side.

I suppose that bit is one of the worst parts of the road, but even so ...

(I suppose they don't want riders face-planting on those big boulders!)

 

[PaulB]

(I couldn't think which forum was best for this so I've posted it in Cafe.)

For those who might be cycling or driving in this area in the next few months - be warned that there has been a major problem on Lee Wood Road, in the woods below Heptonstall, above Hebden Bridge. The road was being repaired when the weight of an HGV caused a retaining wall to collapse and the vehicle and a big chunk of the road slipped down the hillside. Fortunately for the driver, trees stopped the truck before it went far! Report in Halifax Courier.

A friend of mine thought he'd be able to get through on his bike but he said that the road was completely blocked off, or at least it was last week. We haven't checked since then, but assume that it is shut until further notice. That means you would either have to make a long detour or go up/down through the village itself.

Calderdale council has been given a £900,000 grant to cover road repairs for the next 2 years but this one road repair is forecast to cost £500,000 of that budget so it looks as though a lot of local potholes will not be getting filled until 2015!

We didn't know about this and went over that way to get to Holmfirth on Friday night. We had to go through Heptonstall which was much harder than we'd have thought since it is difficult, bordering impassible to get vehicles going both up and down and having to pass each other at certain pinch points. The way round that village is too dodgy for me either up or down on a bike though. I went down it once and vowed 'never again'!

 

[ColinJ]

We didn't know about this and went over that way to get to Holmfirth on Friday night.

You've not been following my local road reports!

We had to go through Heptonstall which was much harder than we'd have thought since it is difficult, bordering impassible to get vehicles going both up and down and having to pass each other at certain pinch points.

The villagers are clearly getting very fed up with the traffic problems! I saw hand-painted signs saying "DO NOT drive on our pavements!", "We need traffic lights" and "PLEASE drive slowly - children playing".

The way round that village is too dodgy for me either up or down on a bike though. I went down it once and vowed 'never again'!

'Mytholm Steeps' - yes - I've ridden down it a couple of times and decided not to do it again, especially in the wet! One day, I hoped to offer the climb as part of an optional extra loop at the end of a forum ride. I haven't been fit enough in the past, and my heart may not be strong enough in the future; we'll have to see.

I used to go that way to work in Burnley. My usual driver was pretty careful but I was once involved in a multiple pile-up at the foot of the 25% section when another less sensible driver was bringing me home. A convoy of 4 cars was tanking down the hill into that tight LH bend and then someone came up the other way - there was a sudden slamming-on of brakes, quickly followed by BANG!-BANG!-BANG! (I wasn't hurt.)

 

[PaulB]

You've not been following my local road reports!

The villagers are clearly getting very fed up with the traffic problems! I saw hand-painted signs saying "DO NOT drive on our pavements!", "We need traffic lights" and "PLEASE drive slowly - children playing".

)

A thousand apologies. Since my working terrain has changed significantly, I don't routinely go that way so unfortunately missed your SallyTraffic reports!

I can fully understand the villagers' annoyance at these problems and sympathise with them for what they have to put up with. There were no people about when we went through since it was dark, bitterly cold and about tea-time so all were indoors. Still, they will have to put up with this, outside their front doors in some cases, constantly. What a shame in such a fabulous place.

 

[ColinJ]

A thousand apologies. Since my working terrain has changed significantly, I don't routinely go that way so unfortunately missed your SallyTraffic reports!

You are forgiven!

I've forgotten what happened with your career, Paul - AFAIR, you took a sabbatical and went Munro-bagging. It seems that you are now back in the world of work. You may well have told me this before - my memory was bad before I got ill, but it is useless now! (I wouldn't be surprised if I had some mini-strokes with the amount of clotty gubbins that was drifting round my system at the time.)

 

[PaulB]

You are forgiven!

I've forgotten what happened with your career, Paul - AFAIR, you took a sabbatical and went Munro-bagging. It seems that you are now back in the world of work. You may well have told me this before - my memory was bad before I got ill, but it is useless now! (I wouldn't be surprised if I had some mini-strokes with the amount of clotty gubbins that was drifting round my system at the time.)

Oh no, I sincerely hope you haven't had mini-strokes. I suffer from what was diagnosed, possibly incorrectly, from diet-triggered migraines (MSG, whey, caffeine and now, aspartame). A recent study though showed my type of 'migraine' - auras, no significant headache - may be tiny TIAs so I'm monitoring that one. My father, who I'm seeing later today at the match, had a major stoke 18 or so months ago but made what looks to me to be a complete recovery thanks to being caught and treated very rapidly.

My main interest is in human biology which is a subject that fascinates me so when I was offered a terrific opportunity to get back involved with the vascular/interventional radiology teams to treat aortic aneurysms, I leapt at the chance. The device I'm involved with became the first and, because this was announced two days ago, only one in the world with FDA approval to treat certain anatomies so we are now fully expecting things to get very hectic indeed. I joined in December so couldn't have got involved at a more fortunate time really.

I don't see it as work though, just a series of problem-solving conundrums that are endlessly fascinating and provide the greatest satisfaction when a successful outcome is achieved. They might be able to tax my pay-packet, but they can't tax the pleasure I derive from seeing a sick patient get off the table and be able to go home in two days when previously, they outcome would have been significantly different.

 

[ColinJ]

Oh no, I sincerely hope you haven't had mini-strokes. I suffer from what was diagnosed, possibly incorrectly, from diet-triggered migraines (MSG, whey, caffeine and now, aspartame). A recent study though showed my type of 'migraine' - auras, no significant headache - may be tiny TIAs so I'm monitoring that one. My father, who I'm seeing later today at the match, had a major stoke 18 or so months ago but made what looks to me to be a complete recovery thanks to being caught and treated very rapidly.

My main interest is in human biology which is a subject that fascinates me so when I was offered a terrific opportunity to get back involved with the vascular/interventional radiology teams to treat aortic aneurysms, I leapt at the chance. The device I'm involved with became the first and, because this was announced two days ago, only one in the world with FDA approval to treat certain anatomies so we are now fully expecting things to get very hectic indeed. I joined in December so couldn't have got involved at a more fortunate time really.

I don't see it as work though, just a series of problem-solving conundrums that are endlessly fascinating and provide the greatest satisfaction when a successful outcome is achieved. They might be able to tax my pay-packet, but they can't tax the pleasure I derive from seeing a sick patient get off the table and be able to go home in two days when previously, they outcome would have been significantly different.

I'm glad your dad is recovering, Paul.

I think (hope!) I might have overstated the mini-stroke thing. I did have a lot of headaches and a mushy mind when I was in hospital, but I'd been slightly starved of oxygen and was hardly sleeping so that wouldn't help. I just repeat myself a bit more often than I'd like to. I was on the phone to my brother-in-law the other night and said a load of stuff which he then told me I'd said to him back in October but had forgotten about! Maybe it is just old age. One thing is for sure - I can't blame the booze because I haven't touched any since August ...

The new job sounds great!

I'm feeling like I want to do something significant before I pop my clogs, since the possibility of dying prematurely has become much more of an issue recently. I'll never have a meaningful career now, but maybe I could turn 1,000 couch potatoes into cyclists, or make enough cash to sponsor a school in Africa, something like that ...

I always assumed that I'd get to at least my mid-80s but nearly snuffing it in my mid-50s has knocked the complacency out of me!

Ooh - there's an incoming text from bromptonfb. Looks like I'll be meeting him for a coffee this afternoon when he rides over.

I am doing a moderate local walk with Slower Than A Sluggish Sloth this coming week, and if that goes okay then I might suggest the long-promised forum walk in a few weeks time.

 

[PaulB]

I might suggest the long-promised forum walk in a few weeks time.

Please do. I could have just done one of my HB-Tod or Tod-HB train ride and walked the journey back on a beautiful day like today.

 

[ColinJ]

Please do. I could have just done one of my HB-Tod or Tod-HB train ride and walked the journey back on a beautiful day like today.

I've done the HB-Tod walk three times recently to get the old legs working again. I walk there, shop at Lidl and Morrisons and then catch the train home. I was quite surprised when I worked out that I do 6.5 miles in total those days. (I'm okay on that flat towpath walk, but walking up hills really shows up my lack of fitness and reduced oxygen capacity.)

 

[Svendo]

Budget Consultation meeting. In which the question was raised are the roads on the route going to be brought up to standard.
"Talks have been held with the organisors with regards the route through calderdale and the work required to bring those roads upto standard"
This includes the top, where it meets the A58, reservoir on one side.

Ah thanks. From the horses mouth as it were. Cragg road will definitely need some resurfacing, but off the top of my head I'm struggling to think where it needs or even could be straightened.
Going down it with no tail wind you don't need to brake much if at all, traffic weather and bravery allowing, until you get to the left and right at the bottom. So I can't think how it'd need any straightening for the pros going up hill. Even though they'll probably be doing the same speed as I am going downhill!

 

[ColinJ]

I walked by the road works with STASS on Tuesday and we took a good look at the wall either side of the collapsed section. It's not looking good! It is badly cracked in many places, and starting to slip and tilt. If the council try to save money and just repair the broken section then this will inevitably happen again at some point.

I also observed that if the wall had collapsed about 100 metres further up the road instead of where it did, then the driver of the truck would very likely have been seriously injured or killed. The vehicle would have fallen further onto a steeper part of the hillside, with no trees in the way to stop it tumbling down the slope.

 

[ColinJ]

I just bought this week's Hebden Bridge Times and there is a report about this road closure.

As we already know - it isn't going to take the originally forecast 3 weeks to repair - it has already been 6 weeks and the work is nowhere near complete! In fact, they have now "discovered" that a long stretch of the retaining wall is failing, in other words - they finally looked at it and saw the bleedin' obvious!

It is going to take at least 4 months to carry out the repairs, which will cost "substantially more" than the £500,000 originally estimated!

The report says that the contractors have been working 7 days a week on it, but it was pretty quiet up there on Tuesday when STASS and I walked past.

The council says that extra work may be done in the future after the initial repairs are done. They are talking about introducing a "new curb line to narrow the road and make it safer". (Gnash - the word is 'kerb'!) Also, there will be a a 30 mph speed limit (damn - I usually hit 40 mph down there on my bike!) and an 18 ton weight limit.

Meanwhile, light traffic will continue to be diverted through Heptonstall, and heavy vehicles will have to do a 20 mile diversion through Todmorden, Cliviger Gorge, the Long Causeway and Blackshaw Head.

 

[PaulB]

To be fair, it's amazing that particular road is in the shape its in anyway with it clinging to that very steep slope. It amounts to a very good feat of civil engineering to build and maintain that road at all.

 

[ColinJ]

To be fair, it's amazing that particular road is in the shape its in anyway with it clinging to that very steep slope. It amounts to a very good feat of civil engineering to build and maintain that road at all.

True, but if the council were warned about slippage 15 years ago then they had plenty of time to fix the problem before it got as bad as this!

PS I finally got round to organising the threatened forum walk - link. It is on a Saturday so I suppose that you might be busy watching football, but if not, you know where to find us!