The perilous future of Snake Pass

ManchesterWorld

Officials have painted a perilous picture about the future of the infamous Snake Pass route between Manchester and Sheffield through the Derbyshire Peak District.  On a visit to the route, Julian Gould, Derbyshire County Council’s highways director, and Cllr Charlotte Cupit, cabinet member for highways assets and transport, outlined the challenges the authority faces and what it is aiming to do within its constrained resources.

Transcript

00:00Alongside Snake Pass we've got over 200 landslips just in Derbyshire that we're trying to manage

00:05at varying scales so that's a massive challenge in itself but then on top of that we obviously

00:11have our wider highway network and maintaining the wider highway network again with the challenging

00:16geology which Snake is the perfect example of what a lot of our highway network punches through

00:23so to me I think that Derbyshire does have an exceptional case for increased funding.

00:30So what are some of the upcoming works that you've got to the route?

00:38We're just about to do some cosmetic repairs if you like to get rid of some of the restrictions

00:44so we've got Gilet Hay here which is restricted to one way in traffic lights we're coming in a

00:49couple of weeks time to resurface that side reinforce the road a little bit so that we can

00:54get rid of this restriction a similar operation just up at Wood Cottage where the wood houses

01:00slip is there's some undulations in the road there where we'll be excavating out and smoothing

01:05it through making it a much safer passage for the traveling public. What can you tell me about

01:11some of the long-term potential projects to the routes? I think that in terms of longer-term

01:18fixes to some of the more major landslips particularly the Old Port one where obviously

01:24a significant portion of the carriageway is gone they are really significant expenditure in terms

01:30of projects as a county council we don't have a landslip budget in terms of nationally the

01:39amount of landslips that we're facing so it's something that would require for longer term

01:44more permanent repairs there'd be major engineering solutions so it would be something that

01:49would require more significant and specific either government or regional funding which is what we're

01:55we're also making the case for obviously this is a strategic route it's used by a lot of residents

02:01and businesses so we are making the case to both the mayor and the central government to highlight

02:07the need for a specific sort of fund to be able to keep this route going. Do you think there's an

02:11argument to be made that the route ought to be closed off or should be closed off in the future?

02:17I don't think from the county council's perspective I don't think we would we would ever look to

02:22consciously close the route the only time we would have to consider something like that is if there

02:27was a further major landslip or major ground movement that meant any sort of engineering

02:33solution or major engineering solution wasn't immediately possible because it was so significant

02:39that it had wiped out the road in action. What can you tell me about some of the kind of road safety concerns of the route itself?

02:49Well the Snake Pass is a historic route and it winds its way through and up and over the valley

02:55and unfortunately there have been some fatalities on Snake Pass so we do look at every intervention

03:00we can from a safety perspective and again we are dependent on the government here around

03:07additional help from what they call the safer roads fund so that would be

03:11a good intervention if that was to come to pass. Would you say there's somewhat of a I guess

03:15political challenge of trying to make sure that Derbyshire gets the money it needs for this

03:21slip but obviously it's not disproportionate to the amount of money that is available UK wide

03:26to look after other highways issues? I think that you know in Derbyshire ultimately we represent

03:33Derbyshire, I represent Derbyshire so that's the priority for me and it's to make the case both

03:37regionally and to the you know countrywide for Derbyshire because that's what matters for our

03:44residents and I think you know in Derbyshire we've got a pretty unique situation. Inside Snake Pass

03:51we've got over 200 landslips just in Derbyshire that we're trying to manage at varying scales

03:57so that's a massive challenge in itself but then on top of that we obviously have our wider highway

04:02network and maintaining the wider highway network again with the challenging geology

04:07which Snake is the perfect example of what a lot of our highway network punches through

04:13so to me I think that Derbyshire does have an exceptional case for increased funding and we do

04:19also, which isn't discussed or highlighted at this point, we do also have quite a lot of funds that

04:24provide a lot of essential materials both countrywide but we then also obviously have to

04:30keep a road network going forward which does also mean that we need a sustainable road network

04:36in Derbyshire so that's the other sort of factor for me that I think highlights

04:40why Derbyshire should be a special case for investment.

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