Snake Pass: Call for government control of vital road to Sheffield set to close again

Peter Kennan, co-chair of Sheffield Chamber’s transport forum, said: “Why has National Highways not got control of this key road between two of the major northern cities?”

He also urged metro mayors in the East Midlands, Manchester and South Yorkshire to work together to get funding for the road.

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The A57 Snake Pass will shut for 11 days from 14-25 October for resurfacing due to landslips, wall repairs and drainage improvements, according to Derbyshire County Council.

The upcoming work will remove one of three sets of temporary lights, at Gillot Hey, as well as a 20mph restriction, at Woodhouse Cottage. But two sets of lights and a 7.5 tonne weight limit will remain.

Mr Kennan said: “ I have contacted Ministers at the Department for Transport, in my various roles, more times than the Snake Pass has been closed. But I do believe that there is a special tray marked "Toxic, Do Not Touch" in the Minister's office for matters like this.”

It comes after the route was closed for four days in September so Northern Powergrid could install an electrical connection for Severn Trent Water.

It was also closed for five days for surface dressing in May and on February 6 for carriageway patching.

Last month, officials at Derbyshire County Council, which is responsible for the road, painted a perilous picture of its future.

The authority has a highways budget of £27 million per year, which needs to cover the whole county and Snake Pass solutions are not able to be as effectively permanent as would be preferred.

Councillor Charlotte Cupit said they were “stop-gap” repairs for what was really needed, but that was all the council could afford.

The route is in a constant state of slipping, with “interventions” now needed every six to 12 months, compared to a previous typical gap of eight years, due to increased heavy rain caused by climate change, she added.

The Snake Pass opened on August 23, 1821, and at the time it was England’s highest turnpike road. In 2020, figures from the Department of Transport showed the A57 was the most dangerous road in the High Peak, the area where most of its length runs – with 137 collisions recorded there between 2014 and 2018.