The good, the bad and the snugly
THE borough was brought to a standstill during this week’s white out - with a host of schools closing, bin rounds disrupted and chaos on the roads and transport networks.
It is believed more than 20 schools and children’s centres were closed.
Rochdale Hornets put out an appeal for helpers to clear their snow-covered pitch ahead of this weekend’s clash with Dewsbury Rams.
Bus services across the region struggled to operate a full service.
Rosso bus posted: “The whole of Rochdale is gridlocked at the moment, so all of our buses in and around town and seeing delays due to traffic and the icy conditions. Thanks for bearing with us - we’re on our way to you!”
On Tuesday, Stagecoach reported that it was experiencing ‘severe delays’ averaging an hour on all services throughout the region.
Rochdale council said if your bin was not emptied on Tuesday or Wednesday please leave it out, citing ‘various reasons including snow and access issues’.
A spokesperson added: “We collected 97.3 per cent of the bins that we were due to yesterday (Wednesday). Those that were missed are being collected today. To limit disruption to our bin collections our crews use two gritting vehicles, that are not part of the gritting network, to assist with access to difficult to reach areas on the collection route.
“These vehicles are in full force during snow and ice conditions.”
Rossendale council also said its general waste and recycling collections were badly hit in Whitworth, saying contingency plans had been put in place to catch back up where road conditions allow.
On Tuesday morning, there were reports of fourmile long tailbacks each way through Rochdale and Littleborough due to temporary traffic lights at the junction of Smithy Bridge Road, and winter weather affecting the area.
Posting just before 7am, Transport for Greater Manchester said there were ‘severe delays’.
There was also slow moving traffic on the M62 at junctions 19 and 20, and congestion on the A627(M) northbound into Rochdale.
Rochdale council kept the public up to date with its gritting schedule.
Not everyone was impressed, however, Alec Ashworth tweeting on Wednesday lunchtime: “Will side streets on Syke be gritted soon as my street has signs saying it’s a gritting route but hasn’t been touched yet and it’s starting to turn into an ice rink.”
A council spokesperson said they were geared up for the poor weather and all priority routes were gritted, adding that the majority of complaints were because of snow falling pre-rush hour which diluted the grit.
On Wednesday afternoon, tram passengers suffered misery as services in both directions between Victoria and Rochdale Town Centre were hit by ‘severe delays’ and advised to take the bus. On Thursday, Metrolink posted: “Our teams worked tirelessly in the adverse weather conditions yesterday.”
Schools confirmed by the council as closed on Wednesday were Falinge Park High School, Holy Trinity CE School, Kingsway Park High School, Lowerplace Primary School, Moorhouse Primary School, Newlands Primary School, Norden CP School, Oulder Hill School, Redwood School, St Cuthbert’s RC, St Edward’s CE Primary, St John’s RC Primary, and Sandbrook CPS.
Hollingworth Academy, Holy Family RC Primary, Hopwood Hall College, St Gabriel’s CE School, and Wardle Academy, along with children’s centres at Castleton, Deeplish and Sandbrook were also shut.
Normality was restored on Thursday, although the cold snap is set to continue with overnight temperatures in Rochdale as low as -4C before milder air sweeps in on Monday.