In reply to Stuart (aka brt):
> I'd rather not do a loop round the Woodhead back over the Snake and be within sight of Sheffield (and home) and get turned around.
Very wise. I think at the very least anyone heading up there should be prepared for the possibility of being turned back.
I think previous closures have generally been to repair the bit of culvert that is continually collapsing. The short section where a 30mph limit is fairly regularly imposed, lifted and imposed again as the road is made smooth and then gradually re-grows a big ol' speed bump.
This time it's a landslip further up. If I remember right just on the way up to the summit from the Sheffield side. It's one of those sections where the road runs along side a deep clough and the ground slopes steeply on either side of the road so even assuming workers there would like to let you by it probably won't be easy for them to do so safely. A medium-sized 360 degree digger will most likely completely fill the available space, and getting off the road there would involve hopping over the wall and traversing a very steep slippery slope on the downhill side.
I rode it on a weekday when it was closed a few years back and had a much more positive experience than thepodge (above). I wouldn't contemplate it when it's open - far too stressful for me cars and vans flashing past a few inches from my elbow, even if it's just the one dickhead for every dozen or more vehicles. A tipper truck was just being loaded with a digger when I arrived at the work site, but after I'd stopped and waited a minute they swung the bucket out of the way and cheerfully waved me through. (But, again, they had room to do that, which may not be the case this time.)
It struck me afterwards that the boost to tourism and local businesses might be worth DCC's while closing the road for the odd half-day or two each summer specifically to allow cyclists to ride it without taking their life in their hands. It'd give the farmers a chance to mend their roadside fences from the more accessible side too, maybe help to keep the sheep off the road the rest of the time.