Speed calming and hazard signs needed for "The Ledges"

Hi guys, after fishing the ledges on Saturday nite and almost getting wiped out by little boy racers who are using the strech of road as a rally road i decided to try to highlight the problem before somone is killed or badly injured, and have started a online petition,



"We want traffic calming measures at the Ledges"
https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-want- ... 9245435008

I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes just a few seconds of your time.

Thanks!

Dan

''The Ledges'' ? More info please.

I fished the ledges on Saturday too mate. We had bikes and cars speeding past all day and many of them were using it like a race track.

Boys, its the Antrim Coast Road, the speed limit there is 60 miles per hour. There is no area, not even a footpath, zero verge for anglers or fishing rods. Doesnt matter if a boy racer hits you doing the ton or a granny hits you doing 40, youre screwed either way.

Stox1, the ledges being referred to is the concrete and stone battery wall that stops the Antrim coast road slipping into the sea near Glenariff, Co Antrim.

If there was a footpath there then it'd be grand to lean your rod on the sea wall, but there isnt even a footpath, the other problem with fishing there is there is no parking space worth a dam. But the main road often becomes a bottle neck there because anglers have parked their cars on the road and cast their lines into the sea from the road.

That road is very popular with motorcyclists too, they seem to have a nasty habit of dying on that road because, well bikes are so fast and that road is so bendy, if youre gonna fish there you have too take the risk of a bike hitting you at about 13o mph. The last guy to die on the Antrim coast road, the flowers are still there, that was on the same stretch of road as the ledges, not far at all.

Boys, its the Antrim Coast Road, the speed limit there is 60 miles per hour. There is no area, not even a footpath, zero verge for anglers or fishing rods. Doesnt matter if a boy racer hits you doing the ton or a granny hits you doing 40, youre screwed either way.

Stox1, the ledges being referred to is the concrete and stone battery wall that stops the Antrim coast road slipping into the sea near Glenariff, Co Antrim.

If there was a footpath there then it'd be grand to lean your rod on the sea wall, but there isnt even a footpath, the other problem with fishing there is there is no parking space worth a dam. But the main road often becomes a bottle neck there because anglers have parked their cars on the road and cast their lines into the sea from the road.

That road is very popular with motorcyclists too, they seem to have a nasty habit of dying on that road because, well bikes are so fast and that road is so bendy, if youre gonna fish there you have too take the risk of a bike hitting you at about 13o mph. The last guy to die on the Antrim coast road, the flowers are still there, that was on the same stretch of road as the ledges, not far at all.

Your 100% correct mate, sadly its only a matter of time when som1 is gona loose their life or badly hurt i urge you guys to sign the petition, sadly only 7 fellow anglers have taken the time to sign it hopefully this will improve: you can sign it via this link thank you!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-want- ... 9245435008

Over 200 views and only 7 angers signed, maybe im fishing that spot at the wrong times, if no 1 thinks thats a dodgey area..........

[chuckaroo]

any angler who parks on and fishes from that road is only asking for trouble.

if i ever fish there then i would park my car further down the road, on a long straight stretch, then walk safely back to the mark. i would then CLIMB OVER THE WALL and fish from there. i dont understand why everyone else refuses or just doesnt bother to do this.

yes, traffic calming might make a difference alright but who says that people have the right to stand on the road in the first place..?? they are practically jay-walking the road is just too narrow and bendy to be standing there. no footpath, nothing. its mindless, inconsiderate and unsafe
its a public road with a 60mph speed limit, you cant just put speed ramps on the road (or slowdown signs, or reduce the speed limit, etc) because a few anglers think its ok to stand there. On the contrary, its not.

boy racers are another matter, fishing from the road is only making the situation even more lethal.

i just dont get it. stand there at your own risk lads, i certainly wont.

Last edited by chuckaroo on Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

any angler who parks on and fishes from that road is only asking for trouble.

if i ever fish there then i would park my car further down the road, on a long straight stretch, then walk safely back to the mark. i would then CLIMB OVER THE WALL and fish from there. i dont understand why everyone else refuses or just doesnt bother to do this.

yes, traffic calming might make a difference alright but who says that people have the right to stand on the road in the first place..?? they are practically jay-walking the road is just too narrow and bendy to be standing there. no footpath, nothing. its insane, mindless, inconsiderate and unsafe
its a public b road with a 60mph speed limit, you cant just put speed ramps on the road (or slowdown signs, or reduce the speed limit, etc) because a few anglers thinks ok to stand there. On the contrary, its not.

boy racers are another matter, fishing from the road is only making the situation even more lethal.

i just dont get it. stand there at your own risk lads, i certainly wont.

thinks its unfair to say any1 who fishes from there is asking for trouble mate, i think the angler has a right to fish anywhere they wish, after all the we sleepy villages along that coast reliy on the tourist/angler what ever you wana call them for their custom, the least the council could do is try to make the roads safer. if that were a bit of road in belfast there would be a number of speed cameras there which would also free up police resources and act as a deterent also, this would not only make it safe for the angler and tourist it would also make it safer for road users also and the local people who you tend to see walk that road from time to time, i think its even more insane, mindless, inconsiderate that Moyle district council not to have measurses in place so that there is a win win situation for everyone, regardless of no measurses, anglers will fish it so why not create a situation where its safer for all? thats anglers cyclists, walkers motor cyclists and the motorists, does this not make sense?

Could you post a google maps link to the location?

[cathalger]

Hi Dan,

Unfortunately it'd be hard to do much about the safety of that part of the main road to make it suitable to use as a fishing platform. It'd cost an awful lot of money,I aint Moyle district council but the facts are, to broaden the road to provide enough area for a footpath on even one side would be difficult. On the sea side of the wall there is no existing land to make into a footpath without building somesort of concrete platform, but there is already a steep incline immediately on the sea side of the wall dropping into the sea so it would be an engineering challenge?

On the other side of the road, to make a footpath, a laybye, or to broaden the road surface area, shift it away from the sea, there would have to be an awful lot of earth moved, and the piece of land would have to be bought from the farmer in order for to take it away, the land is very steep at the back of the road, it would take those wire cage things, gallions? to keep the land up.

I dunno, I cant see Moyle District Council giving it the remotest consideration, far too much cost, I could be completely wrong.

Re the boy racers. Some are from here, some are from neighbouring communities, they tear up Waterfoot Street here like they genuinely wish a child would stray out in front of them, brain dead scum.

People give out to the cops, Response goes like this,"Yes we know its a problem but on a Saturday night when this is going on all our man power is trying to control the situation over in Ballycastle which is a lot worse!!"

Dont expect the PSNI to protect you at the ledges, they dont protect kids in a 30 zone here, they aint gonna bother in a 60 zone!!!

Last edited by cathalger on Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

There are 3500 miles [5631 kms] of Irish coastline. Surely there is someplace safer for all to fish. Roads are built primarily for traffic and in the interest of everybody's safety should not be obstructed unneccessarly. If Chuckaroo can cross the wall and fish safely, then why not other anglers also? The last thing fishing needs is bad publicity. This is just an opinion but I am afraid I cannot sign a petition on something which I have doubts about. Btw....I am not standing up for so called boy racers who also endanger life,but this is a job for the police.

hi dan, signed the petition mate . but to be honest i do'nt see too much being done about it man. we fish there from the other side of the wall. i'll admitt it is pretty restrictive with very little room, but a hell of a lot safer. we were fishing there (waterfoot side) last summer when 3 lads turned up and set up on the road fishing over the top of us . about 2 hours into their session there was a screach of squealing tyres and a massive cloud of smoke from the road. we did'nt get to see what happened because we were on the other side of the wall but we heard a car door slam and a heated argument break out with lots of threats being thrown about. about 5 mins later a cop car came screaming up the road and moved the boys that were fishing on. so it might be worth giving the cops in glenarm a call just to see what the law is regarding right of way i'm not 100% sure on what the legalities are regarding fishing on a main road that has no footpath, but it might be considered that you could be "causing an obstruction". in which case you could end up on the wrong side of the law man. but then again we've also seen lads fishing there from the road all day and you'd think there must have had to have been a few cop cars went passed them in that time and did'nt move them on . so mabey some clarification from the cops could help

Mate the legdes are just before to reach the chapel as your entering waterfoot, Al i know what your saying mate and i will check that out with the cops. i dont think moyle will widen the road or even consider it mate but i feel if they were to put a speed up there mate that would be somthing atleast, we bumped into them we boys racers ourselves got a few beer cans thrown at us by them but i will see what the cops anyway, take it easy mate..

[chuckaroo]

Could you post a google maps link to the location?

i cant quite seem to post a link that brings you straight to the place on google maps, but here is a picture of it from google maps.
the mark is 1km east, along the Garron Road, from the south-end of the beach in Glenariff, Co.Antrim

the Ledges, coast road.jpg

you can see a tripod set-up in the photo (- just over the wall and down on the actual 'ledge' itself) but it is the actual road itself that people are fishing from also. tripods are set up on the road and cars are parked along the grass verge there on the right hand side, right up to the bend.

thinks its unfair to say any1 who fishes from there is asking for trouble mate, i think the angler has a right to fish anywhere they wish, after all the we sleepy villages along that coast reliy on the tourist/angler what ever you wana call them for their custom, the least the council could do is try to make the roads safer. if that were a bit of road in belfast there would be a number of speed cameras there which would also free up police resources and act as a deterent also, this would not only make it safe for the angler and tourist it would also make it safer for road users also and the local people who you tend to see walk that road from time to time, i think its even more insane, mindless, inconsiderate that Moyle district council not to have measurses in place so that there is a win win situation for everyone, regardless of no measurses, anglers will fish it so why not create a situation where its safer for all? thats anglers cyclists, walkers motor cyclists and the motorists, does this not make sense?

mate, by saying 'looking for trouble' all i mean is that they will cause an accident, thats all. but a serious accident.
and i couldnt agree more that the villagers appreciate the tourists/anglers, but i doubt anyone appreciates people creating unsafe driving situations.
i too would like to see traffic calming for all those reasons you mention here, of course i would, but i dont see them doing it or why they should do it. it simply isnt and wouldnt be a safe place to walk/cycle/fish even with restrictions... its just too narrow, busy, and bendy a road.

why dont you just jump over the wall and fish from the actual ledges themselves..?

cheers

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Last edited by chuckaroo on Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

Could you post a google maps link to the location?

i cant quite seem to post a link that brings you straight to the place on google maps, but here is a picture of it from google maps.
the mark is exactly 1km east from the village of Glenariff in Co.Antrim, along the Garron Road.

the Ledges, coast road.jpg

you can see a tripod set-up in the photo (- just over the wall and down on the actual 'ledge' itself) but it is the actual road itself that people are fishing from also. tripods are set up on the road and cars are parked along the grass verge there on the right hand side, right up to the bend.

thinks its unfair to say any1 who fishes from there is asking for trouble mate, i think the angler has a right to fish anywhere they wish, after all the we sleepy villages along that coast reliy on the tourist/angler what ever you wana call them for their custom, the least the council could do is try to make the roads safer. if that were a bit of road in belfast there would be a number of speed there which would also free up police resources and act as a deterent also, this would not only make it safe for the angler and tourist it would also make it safer for road users also and the local people who you tend to see walk that road from time to time, i think its even more insane, mindless, inconsiderate that Moyle district council not to have measurses in place so that there is a win win situation for everyone, regardless of no measurses, anglers will fish it so why not create a situation where its safer for all? thats anglers cyclists, walkers motor cyclists and the motorists, does this not make sense?

mate, by saying 'looking for trouble' all i mean is that they will cause an accident, thats all. but a serious accident.
and i couldnt agree more that the villagers appreciate the tourists/anglers, but i doubt anyone appreciates people creating unsafe driving situations.
i too would like to see traffic calming for all those reasons you mention here, of course i would, but i dont see them doing it or why they should do it. it simply isnt and wouldnt be a safe place to walk/cycle/fish even with restrictions... its just too narrow, busy, and bendy a road.

why dont you just jump over the wall and fish from the actual ledges themselves..?

cheers

mate we do stand over the wall, at the start of june we were fishing there, (over the wall) there was a group of motor cyclists came racing around that corner he skimmed the wall managing to stay on the bike but the stuff that he must have had on his bike came flying over the wall just missing us, believe it it or not one of the things was a we single ring camping stove, just by the grace of god it didnt explode. i must say though that somtimes you would see a cop just at the layby on the right hand side with a speed camera...

Hi dan, i signed the petition in the hope that maybe something can be done about the speeding etc, but i will have to agree with others in that there are other areas on the antrim coastline that are a lot safer for anglers, maybe a 40mph limit with speed cameras that measure how fast you get from one part of the coastline to the next might help, but other than that, its like playing football in the middle of a motorway, its a bit crazy and something bad is going to happen.. Good luck anyway.

Petition signed, but with only 9 signatures you/we are probably on a beaten docket. Sadly it usually takes a bad accident before councils look at preventative measures.

No venue is worth risking your life for.

I won't be signing the petition as I believe fishing from a road (especially practically a blind corner), isn't a good idea in the first place. Al mentioned a debate as to who has right of way, It's simple. The cars do.
I've seen the way vechiles ho0r up and down that road myself, first hand, and anyone insane enough to be putting themselves into that line of fire is asking for trouble.
Plenty more venues on the North Antrim Coast which don't involve gambling with your life.

Just my 2 cents.

Hi mate i understand and respect what you are saying , but i dont think that the amount of signatures you get makes a difference, the cost and work involved would be to great for the council to even think about doing work on the road concerned, other people are correct in saying that there would need to be several serious accidents at that spot for them to even think about it.Only advice i would give to you would be if fishing the ledges dont fish from the road and park your car somewhere sensible,people driving on the road have the right of way, as if you cause an accident by causing an abstruction you could end up on the wrong side of the law. enjoy your fishing and dont forget there are tons of other safe fishing marks where you relax and enjoy your days fishing .

I'd just like to add a wee thing to this thread and that is that anglers have fished at the spot in question for a very long time, decades. Very often casting baits from the road and standing on the road with rod butt on the tarmac, rod on wall or on stand.

Just feel I should point this out in Dans interest, he didnt invent fishing off the road there, it was an established fishing stand long before Dans or my time and anyone driving the coast road will be aware of it.

The unfortunate thing is that it seems to be less and less safe these days to fish there. There is no doubt it is risky, wouldnt be at it personally. Theres another spot not far from there where I go to throw a spinner an odd time, fishing right down at the waters edge, off the road. The car has to be parked on the land side of the road and thankfully there is ample space at that particular spot to park the car several feet from the tarmac.

But what I want to say about the experience of going there is that there is always a slight anxiety re getting from the car to and over the wall in order to get down to the waters edge, I hate that bit, if theres a string of traffic I only feel happy once I'm over the wall and out of harms way, I dont know how people can fish in peace off the road itself, it must be scarey.