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Snake Pass Needs Funding to Prevent Closure

Snake Pass, one of the best known biking roads in the UK, is under threat of closure due to landslips. The famously twisty A57, which runs from Glossop to the Ladybower Reservoir, has suffered from several landslips in recent years that have undermined the integrity of the road’s structure. More than 30,000 vehicles currently use the route, which is one of the highest in the UK, every week.

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Although Derbyshire County Council has put roadworks in place, these are costly and are becoming less effective as the road deteriorates further, apparently as a result of heavy rain caused by climate change. The Council has warned that the route is in a constant state of slipping and a future major landslip could be uneconomic to repair. Derbyshire County Council has made it clear that its current budget of £27m a year is to not sufficient to fix the issues in the longer term and it is now lobbying central government and the East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward for additional funding in the form of a dedicated “land slip fund.”

“Repairs are lasting months rather than years,” Councillor Charlotte Cupit, Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport, told MCN. “It’s a road we absolutely want to keep open, but as the four current landslips show, it is now at risk of a more significant slip that we may not be able to fix.” She added that the Council did not have the cash for any long-term fixes. “In the long run, it needs a significant, multi-million-pound pot of investment to carry out major repairs to shore up the road – that’s funding that we don’t currently receive.”

Jim Freeman, Chair of the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) was concerned to learn that one of Britain’s iconic biking routes could close: “That would be a real shame. I appreciate that a lot of Councils are currently under intense financial pressure, with many facing insolvency but with a legal responsibility to maintain services, but I would have thought that those responsible could find a way of keeping an important and historic A road such as “Snake Pass” open and with a longer-term plan in place for its future upkeep.”

Jim added “The Department For Transport has recently declared that it wants to “move fast and fix things” as part of a new “Mission Driven” Government. Fixing the current issues with “Snake Pass”, and preserving this key transport route for the use and enjoyment of all road users, provides an ideal opportunity for the Government to put its money where its mouth is and for DfT and National Highways to work collaboratively with Derbyshire County Council to put in place a long-term plan to keep this important route open.”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Stephen Bowler

 

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