As reported in the Times. Glossop – Woodhead – Stocksbridge? A good idea?

Cuts out the long M62 route and hazzardous winter/weather dependent Woodhead. Plus economically improve the Sheffield/Manchester options. Yes it will piss off some residents etc. Ideas??

I can see it being useful but can see lots of folk not liking the idea

This one?Was it todays times or one from the 70’s?

Do u have a link to the article?

Times is behind a pay wall.

I thought the UK wasn’t interested in expensive public projects? Will it be a toll road, then?

I thought the UK wasn’t interested in expensive public projects?

the uk is currently VERY interested in any big infrastructure projects that can be started immediately if not sooner.

because; we can borrow billions at very low interest rates, engineering firms will work for little/no profit, and big infrastructure projects give people jobs.

things like boris island, severn barrage, and hs2 are all very well and good, but there’s no way any work will actually start for at least 5 years.

dusting off an old abandoned plan makes a lot of sense.

Woodhead is massively overloaded so I can see why they keep looking at this. I’ve stood waiting for a gap in traffic to cross on the TPT for well over a quarter of an hour before.

Having said that I’d probably oppose it on principle. I don’t think building any more roads is a good thing, we should be reducing our reliance on road transport, not increasing capacity. But then I’m a sanctimonious, joyless, car-hating hippy so what do I know…

Cuts out the long M62 route and hazzardous winter/weather dependent Woodhead. Plus economically improve the Sheffield/Manchester options. Yes it will piss off some residents etc. Ideas??

Seeing as it’s now taken about 20 years not to build the Mottram/Tintwistle by-pass and this would be a much bigger project, I think it’s just as likely that they’d approved a 20-mile, six-carriageway underpass or a massive wrought-iron viaduct. Or a negative-gravity, hovercraft express way powered by thousands of captive badgers on customised exercise bikes.

Or a negative-gravity, hovercraft express way powered by thousands of captive badgers on customised exercise bikes.

Now this is the kind of joined-up, holistic, forward-thinking transport policy I can get behind.

VOTE BWD!

Funny how a lot of the Peak B/W’s were the original transport links between Sheffield and Manc, and various mills/factories in-between.

Or a negative-gravity, hovercraft express way powered by thousands of captive badgers on customised exercise bikes.

Another reason to stop the cull…

because; we can borrow billions at very low interest rates, engineering firms will work for little/no profit, and big infrastructure projects give people jobs.

Okay. I get you. Now wh should e government build it? And what’s the social benefit of the asse, as opposed to he construction.

Plough 6 lanes through it and stop mincing about.

There are 2 fully functioanl railway lines below woodhead even though the tracks have gone, theyre still viable once the electric cables and other stuff is taken out, put more freight trains on the line and electriy it, huge transhipment depots each end, lots of work created and all environmnetlay freindly.

Issues around safety and ventilation in those tunnels iirc.

The plan needs to happen if Sheffield is not to die on its arse; by rights,there should be an economic triangle in the north with Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester supporting and competing with one another. However the infstrucure between Leeds and Sheffield is choked, As is the link from Leeds to Manc. The less said about Sheffield to Manc the better.

Okay. I get you. Now wh should e government build it? And what’s the social benefit of the asse, as opposed to he construction.

dodgy keyboard? – or have i suddenly become dyslexic?

we need a modern canal network, get digging

I agree with “project” they should look at re-utilising what’s already there, get the big haulage stuff back onto the trains instead of the HGVs that alone would get rid of a large proportion of the traffic over Wood head and the M62,without having to build new roads or damaging more of our country side.

get the big haulage stuff back onto the trains instead of the HGVs that alone would get rid of a large proportion of the traffic over Wood head and the M62

Rail isn’t really suitable for short trips like Sheffield to Manchester + there is already a rail line between the cities. It’s naive to think that a single trip would be saved if there was more freight capacity on the route. A proper road is sorely needed for the route.

we need a modern canal network, get digging

We have a canal network, it just needs the shopping trolleys dredging out of it…

Issues around safety and ventilation in those tunnels iirc.

The only safety hazards are the 400kv cables currently plonked through the tunnels, they were only built in the 20th century and ventilation wasn’t an issue because they were intended for operation by electric traction. Considering the Sheffield end is likely to be electrified towards London sooner rather than later the ventilation argument becomes increasingly null & void. In any case, ventilation is already an issue on the existing rail route through Totley tunnel.

Rail isn’t really suitable for short trips like Sheffield to Manchester + there is already a rail line between the cities. It’s naive to think that a single trip would be saved if there was more freight capacity on the route.

Of course it is, two large university cities less than 40 miles but the best part of 90 minutes apart by road?

The current rail route is circuitous and takes an hour which is nearly as bad as the road journey, and is also operating at full capacity having to make allowances for slow stopping trains and freight services to and from Peak Forest.

We’ve got lots of unemployed navvies. Put them to work digging a tunnel.

When I had a Gixxer 6 I used to love the Woodhead Pass on a long summers evening 🙂

dodgy keyboard? – or have i suddenly become dyslexic?

iPad predictive keyboard.

Is it a plan to revive the M67 that ends at the roundabout just outside Glossop?

http://pathetic.org.uk/unbuilt/m67_manchester_to_sheffield_motorway/

They could simply dual it like they did with the 66 further North, it must be a far cheaper solution than all the gubbins they have to put in place for motorways.
There’s only a couple of short stretches of single carriageway on the 66 now between the A1 at Scotch Corner and the M6 at Penrith, it used to be a nightmare at times, now it’s mostly a breeze.

We’ve got lots of unemployed navvies prison inmates. Put them to work digging a tunnel.

And new canals.

Of course it is, two large university cities less than 40 miles but the best part of 90 minutes apart by road?

Its not suitable for freight which is what you were claiming was the solution.

The existing line has plenty of passenger capacity as the trains used currently are short and empty. A new rail line would be nice but wouldn’t alliviate the traffic issues on the Woodhead pass or the M62 which are caused by Freight and non “city centre to city centre” journeys.

Just dualling the whole route and b- passing the mess at the end of the cuurent M67 would be a huge improvement.

There is no further capacity on the Hope Valley rail route without extra infrastructure. The trains may be ‘short’ but except for the local stopping service to & from Piccadilly when it gets out in the sticks, they’re certainly not empty.

There is a freight depot at Peak Forest for aggregates traffic, some of which goes to terminals in Salford. The long and steep gradients on the Hope Valley route have more of a bearing on its suitability for further freight traffic as the infrastructure stands. There is plenty of rail freight around each area although other routes are used for inter-regional flows.

That is all very well and good and extra rail capacity may be used if it existed but it isn’t going to remove (m)any road journeys from the Woodhead route.

The comercial vehicles using this route are not the sort that can be replaced by rail and there isn’t a massive unfulfilled demand for rail travel from Sheffield to Manchester than isn’t being met.

We certainly shouldn’t just assume road is the only choice but in this instance there appears to be a significant economic advantage to a modern, fast, safe route from Sheffield to Manchester and a fear of the car and progress shouldn’t stop it being built.