Derbyshire County Council has confirmed that the A57 Snake Pass is to close again for four weeks. 

It will be shut from 26 September so that specialist contractors working for the county council can carry out an investigation into the causes of the landslip at Alport.

A spokesperson for the local authority says the ground investigation is needed so that plans can be drawn up to fix the pass. During the closure, the road at Woodhouse Cottage on the pass will be resurfaced.

The road will be closed to all users from Doctors Gate to Hagg Farm, a distance of 5.6 miles. The contractors will need to use the remaining piece of road at the Alport slip for a drilling rig, so there will be no possibility of any vehicles getting past.

Should anyone decide to travel on the Snake Pass during the work, there are turning places at either end of the closure.

Advisory signs and traffic marshalls will be present at either end of the Snake Pass, warning that it will not be possible to get from one side to the other, and vehicles will have to turn round and come back the same way. 

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport, Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal, said: “We do realise that this closure is going to be very inconvenient for all those who use the pass, but we have no choice but to carry out this work.

“We have been in touch with the residents and businesses on the pass to make sure they are aware of the work, and we thank them and other local residents for their patience while the work is being carried out.

“Once this investigation is completed we will work with specialists to find a design solution to this latest landslip, and this will be fully costed.”

Once the ground investigation is complete the road will open again, but the traffic lights and weight limit will remain.

The road will be closed from Doctors Gate to Hagg Farm, a distance of 5.6 miles. Doctors Gate is approximately 3.8 miles from the turning to Royal Oak pub at the Glossop end and Hagg Farm is approximately 2.7 miles to the Fairholmes Visitors Centre turning at the Bamford end.

The A57 Snake Pass was closed in February 2022 following a battering from Storm Eunice and Storm Franklin. On 29 March, it was reopened to all vehicles, with a weight limit of 7.5 tonnes. There are traffic lights and a 20 mph speed restriction at the location of all three landslips.

The storms caused three sections of the road surface to drop, in one area by around two metres, leaving major cracks to the road surface and the risk of further landslips.

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