Councillors debate US-style freeway between Sheffield and Manchester as Snake Pass closes again

​​​​​​​The 39-mile route, which includes the notorious and winding Snake Pass, and congestion-choked Glossop, takes 1hr 30m in favourable conditions, a Derbyshire County Council scrutiny meeting was told.

But it is prone to severe weather and often closed by snow and​​​​​​​ has been plagued by three landslips in the last year which closed it completely. It reopened with traffic lights, a weight restriction and single lane running - but closes again for a week from Monday May 22.

In contrast, the route between Austin and San Antonio in Texas, which is twice the distance, takes just 1hr 15m, according to Coun Nigel Gourlay. The difference is a six-lane freeway.

He said: “In the USA, the route between Manchester and Sheffield would be connected by a good-sized highway.”

Chris Hegarty, of the council’s public transport team, said: “Building a motorway through the centre of a national park would be very difficult to do and may not be able to get through the planning process. People would keep digging tunnels to stop you building it. I’m not saying that kind of capacity isn’t needed but it would be very difficult to do.”

The meeting also heard the train between Manchester and Sheffield takes 52 minutes, while the longer 48-mile journey between Amsterdam and Rotterdam takes 41 minutes.

In 2020, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Highways England (now National Highways) found that a 25-mile tunnel linking Manchester and Sheffield would cost up to £12bn but could shorten journey times between the M1 and M60 to about 30 minutes.