Road in Northern England
The
A628
is a major road connecting
Greater Manchester
and
South Yorkshire
in northern England. It crosses the
Pennine
hills by way of
Longdendale
and the
Woodhead Pass
in the
Peak District National Park
. The road's altitude and exposure to bad weather create problems in winter and the road is sometimes closed due to snow or high winds.
Route
[
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]
The road starts to the east of
Manchester
at the end of the
M67 motorway
and
A57 road
. It passes through
Mottram in Longdendale
,
Hollingworth
and
Tintwistle
and then through
Longdendale
in the
Peak District National Park
to
Crowden
and Salter's Brook Bridge where the road leaves
Derbyshire
and enters
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough
. From its summit the road descends through
Millhouse Green
,
Thurlstone
, around
Penistone
before joining the
M1 motorway
at Junction 37.
From the M1 junction the road passes through
Barnsley
,
Cudworth
,
Brierley
and around
Hemsworth
(bypassed) to
Ackworth Moor Top
ending in
Pontefract
at a junction with the
A639 road
.
The Woodhead Pass section, while not formally defined, covers the section of the road which passes through the national park.
History
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]
The A628 originated as a
salt road
accessing what was a valuable preservative in the 18th century. The route was used to transport salt from mines in north Cheshire to towns in Yorkshire. Construction of the western section of the road to Saltersbrook in the Longendale valley began in 1732 and the section to the east towards
Doncaster
opened in 1740.
[2]
The road was improved and reconstructed as a
turnpike road
in 1844.
[3]
A modern section of the A628 between Barnsley and Pontefract runs on the line of the former
Hull and Barnsley Railway
.
Traffic
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]
The road's altitude and its exposure to the weather over the Woodhead Pass creates problems in winter
[4]
[5]
when it can be closed because of snow or high winds.
[6]
The high altitude of the pass and its winding, narrow route through the Pennine hills makes travelling difficult, and the road is often closed. The alternative trans-Pennine route is a lengthy detour via the
M62
, 15 miles to the north. High winds along the pass cause HGVs to overturn or jack-knife, creating obstructions, and ice can make the road "like a skating rink".
[7]
In 2015,
Highways England
proposed a £6 billion scheme to build a combined road and rail tunnel under Woodhead, which would be the longest tunnel in Europe. The plans were scaled back to involve a partially tunnelled scheme. Drivers are unimpressed with the slow progress in upgrading the pass, complaining the road "is currently about 30 years behind the times".
[7]
[8]
The
Longdendale Bypass
has been promoted as a project to remove traffic from the villages of Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle, which lie between the M67 and the Woodhead Pass. The scheme has been perennially controversial. As of 2017, the project has no definitive start date.
[9]
Culture
[
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]
The A628 is mentioned in the 2001
Human League
track "The Snake", which suggests it as an alternative route from the
M62
or
A57
Snake Pass
. The road features in the film
Hell is a City
(1960) when robbers stop to dispose of a woman's body alongside the road.
[
citation needed
]
See also
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]
References
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]
External links
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]
KML is from Wikidata