‘Chaos’ on roads amid year’s heaviest snowfall
THE heaviest snowfall of the year so far brought ‘chaos’ to Rochdale’s roads.
Drivers reported hazardous conditions on Manchester Road and Roch Valley Way, among others, on Sunday night.
The A627(M) southbound near the M62 was closed for a short spell due to ‘severe weather conditions,’ Highways England said.
And cars stuck in the snow on Drake Street also caused disruption to bus services in the town centre.
First Manchester tweeted: “Due to treacherous road conditions ice/ snow Drake St is unsafe to use in Rochdale - Using the Esplanade in both directions until further notice, our apologies for any inconvenience.”
Several drivers took to social media to complain that roads around the town hadn’t been gritted adequately.
One driver, writing on Sunday night, told the Observer: “There is chaos with the traffic. Roads such as Manchester Road and towards the motorway are covered in snow. Traffic is virtually at a standstill. Cars are skidding everywhere and I’ve seen a few accidents. Even buses were skidding and sliding.”
But writing on Twitter Rochdale council said gritters had been working through the night.
At 2am on Monday the council tweeted: “We’ve been gritting continuously since yesterday. 200 miles for each 4 hour treatment and all our gritters are out again now.”
On Sunday night the council wrote: “We currently have numerous vehicles out across the borough gritting roads. This work will be continuing throughout the night. Roads gritted include Halifax Road, Whitworth Road, Edenfield Road, Smithy Bridge Road, Manchester Road, Oldham Road & many more.”
And Mark Widdup, the council’s director of neighbourhoods, also tweeted: “The Gritting Fleet has been out on the network for most of the day and continue to treat main roads. They will be working through the night and will treat other key routes as soon as possible.”
In reply Shahid Sardar said: “We’ve not seen them Mark - normally gritted roads are relatively clearer and passable. It’s pretty bad out there & we need to mindful of the elderly & most vulnerable that may struggle to get out & carers that are struggling to reach people they care for.”
Elsewhere there was heavy traffic on the M62 past Milnrow into Yorkshire and there were a number of collisions on the M66 caused by the weather, with reports of gridlocked traffic between the motorway and the A56.