The A628 is a major road connecting

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

and

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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

The road starts to the east of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

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 The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

at Junction 37. From the M1 junction the road passes through

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

, Cudworth, Brierley and around Hemsworth (bypassed) to Ackworth Moor Top ending in Pontefract at a junction with the A639 road. The section from Ackworth Moor Top Roundabout through Ackworth has a 7.5 tonne weight limit because of a number of tight bends and narrow sections. The Woodhead Pass section, while not formally defined, covers the section of the road that passes through the national park.

History

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 Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

opened in 1740. The road was improved and reconstructed as a turnpike road in 1844. A modern section of the A628 between Barnsley and Pontefract runs on the line of the former Hull and Barnsley Railway.

Traffic

The road's altitude and its exposure to the weather over the Woodhead Pass creates problems in winter when it can be closed because of snow or high winds. 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". 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". 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.

Culture

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.

References

External links