Ample salt in stock to treat roads from today
SNOW ploughs and gritters will be deployed as early as possible today to re-open roads after a night of heavy snowfall.
Local authorities will utilise more than 300 ploughs to remove overnight snow, with transport bosses hoping to keep main routes open in the wake of snow and sub-zero temperatures.
Some local authorities including Louth suspended operations from early yesterday afternoon, with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) saying decisions to suspend were based on localised conditions.
“Our objective is to keep the road networks from deteriorating, but there are balances to be struck in terms of safety and the conditions staff are working in,” NECG chairman Sean Hogan said.
“People have a look at the conditions and the advice and make a decision.
“We have 300 blades starting as soon as conditions allow. It’s dependent on road conditions as to how quickly they will appear.”
Local authorities are responsible for gritting roads in their areas, with a focus on national routes totalling around 5,500km, which carry 40pc of all traffic.
The remainder of the network, almost 95,000km, are local and regional roads, but many carry large traffic volumes, meaning they receive priority.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland said that during the ‘Big Freeze’ of 2010/2011, operators used 30,000 tonnes of salt a week.
A spokesman said it expected to use 30,000 tonnes over the coming days, and that ample supplies were in stock. Salt would only melt ice if snow was first removed, so it was crucial that ploughs were deployed, he added.