Snake Pass: Notorious road into Sheffield to close on 11 more dates this year

The Snake Pass will shut from 2-4 December and again from 4-13 December for tree pruning by Severn Trent Water.

The closures are from 8pm until 6am each night.

It comes as the route prepares to reopen today, Friday, October 25, after 11 days of resurfacing due to landslips, wall repairs and drainage improvements. It was the fourth closure this year.

Severn Trent says the first December closure - from 2-4 - covers all of the A57 Snake Road between Glossop and the junction with the A6013 at Bamford.

The second - from December 4-13- is from the A57 Ladybower viaduct to the ‘district boundary’ in Bamford and between The Ladybower Inn and Cutthroat Bridge on the A57.

Make sure you don’t miss any of the breaking news and biggest headlines from Sheffield and South Yorkshire with our free daily newsletter.

The road is maintained by Derbyshire County Council. 

The just completed work is set to 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 - at the Alport landslip and the Doctors Gate landslip - and a 7.5 tonne weight limit will remain indefinitely.

The route was also closed for four days in September so Northern Powergrid could install an electrical connection for Severn Trent Water.

And it was closed for five days for surface dressing in May - and on February 6 for carriageway patching.

Last month, a transport expert called for the government to take control of the road due to the cost of maintenance.

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?”

Councillor Charlotte Cupit, of Debyshire County Council, said they were “stop-gap” repairs for what was really needed, but 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.

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.