It’s time we had quicker and better travel-links between Sheffield and Manchester

Yet again the A57 Snake Pass is closed and this time around it’s a landslide caused by the torrents of rain and inclement weather courtesy of three storms in a weekend, which probably makes them more efficient than the buses, and now the popular and commonly used commuter route (and daytrippers passage) will be closed for at least four-weeks.

Which leads me onto my point.

The travel links between Sheffield and Manchester are an absolute embarrassment, both to the North from a pride perspective and most definitely to those (apparently the ‘powers that be’) in the South, who seemingly don’t care too much about investing in anything south of the M25. It’s ridiculous really, two of the biggest cities in the North (and I will repeat this fact) don’t even have a motorway connecting them.

Both cities are a mere 40-miles apart, roughly, and if you’re to make the journey by car, well, your best option is the Snake Pass. At least it is usually.

The A57 Snake Pass is a gloriously view-tiful (I made that word up in my annoyance) route between the two cities, like it’s namesake, a snake-like road weaving its way across the Pennines. Steeped in history, the 200-year old route is a sight to behold when you traverse it in the right weather.

Well, it is when it’s open. It’s often not… and while it’s a lovely looking road, it’s long-since not been fit for purpose. This week's landslide brought on by the recent storms merely amplifies that sentiment.

Sure you can take the alternative routes, such as the A628 Woodhead Pass, which is closed far too frequently. Not as much as the Snake Pass, but still.

Snowfall, Snake Pass shut, heavy rainfall, shut again. If less frequent, similar fates befall the Woodhead Pass It’s all understandable as safety is important, however it’s not a new issue and something needs to be done, and quick

If you’re in a rush to get there and want to take the fastest route by road, which works out at 1-hr 38mins. The quickest route from Sheffield to Manchester by road at this moment in time is a 75-mile detour, whereby you would need to drive up the M1 to Leeds, before turning onto the M62 and work your way back down then across (a bit) to Manchester, via the M60.

When things are a little more steady, you can make it across to Manchester in around an hour or so (not taking congestion into account), which isn’t the best but it’s better.

Or… you could always spend an hour and a half on the train. Barring any further delays, if it’s not packed full of commuters, and often at a pretty penny too.

Remember when pennies actually meant something?

Now they just linger awkwardly, like waiting for a train that has been cancelled and replaced by a bus, which is conveniently stuck in traffic in a torrential downpour or the anger-inducing perfectly-timed snowstorm.

Put simply, the current options are a bit crap. Well, they are, aren't they?

For years there have been plenty of discussions and, broad ranging yet, expensive plans for a trans-Pennine tunnel of sorts, like the purported Woodhead Pass Tunnel, something to do with the Mottram Pass and so on.

Here’s one the Ladybower Luge.. that’ll come to fruition sooner.

New project name, never-ending discussions. Same old, same old.

But honestly, to me at at least, it seems to be that these projects are more blue-sky ideas or even a carrot to dangle around election time rather than a marked intent to do something but... ‘nowt ‘appens ever’.

Wouldn’t it be great if something was actually done about this long-standing annoyance, inconvenience, incessant roadblock, delete as applies to you — instead of acknowledging (a drastic need) for improving transport links between the two cities.

It’s an absolute travesty that the two largest cities in the north are only linked - as in truly connected - by the one road the A57 Snake Pass. Admittedly, a journey along the winding roads can definitely be a beautifully picturesque affair, when you can drive that way or even feel that it’s safe enough to do so.

Do I think we should get rid of it? Absolutely not, but something has to give… we need a road that can handle the volume of cars that need to use the road, safely, continually and swiftly (within reason, and I’m not advocating speeding).

It would be good to have a definitive idea about what they actually intend to do going forward and then give us a clear timeline, we need some hope that we’ve not been utterly forgotten, it’s the least we deserve after that high-speed, ponderously built disaster that is HS2, which we’re not even getting anyway... but will still be contributing to in some way.

Time to sort it out methinks.