Salt and grit sought as freeze continues

As freezing temperatures hit the region this week, salting, gritting and road safety were top of the agenda in most areas, including west Waterford.

Senior engineer at Waterford City and County Council, Gabriel Hynes, outlined that the council pre-salt some 550km of the road network requiring seven salters and approximately 12 crew.

Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the Dungarvan Lismore District following the first of the hard freezes to hit the region, Mr Hynes stated that priority roads, known as P1s and P2s, are the first to be taken care of.

“Tonight we will be pre-salting that 550km again. They will be going out at 5pm this evening and 3am tomorrow morning. There is considerable resources involved in that,” he said.

Raised initially by Cllr McGuinness, who sought that a regional road be added to the priority list to allow access to the lifeboat station at Helvick, he asked that a ‘level of discretion’ be given.

POOD CONDITIONS IN KNOCKANORE

Pointing to the schools, Cllr John Pratt noted that he has been contacted by several people in relation to access and salting of the roads.

“They’re in a very difficult situation. In Knockanore, the school today had to close. It never opened actually.

“They’re looking for some kind of answer. Is there anything that can be done to possibly allow the schools to open? I don’t know what the fix is. We probably had more frost now this year than we had all of last year and that’s only a few days into the year,” Cllr Pratt said.

On Monday, it was reported that buses and cars became stuck on roads in the Knockanore area, as messages went out to the public to avoid the area until gritting had taken place.

Responding, Mr Hynes noted that the council follow a service plan that is submitted to the department in advance of every winter season and is preapproved, a plan that would not be changing mid-season.

“It’s not reasonable, not practical to be able to salt the remainder of the roads that you are looking for and it's not done in any other county. People will have to realise that the P1 and P2 routes referred to, they are on our website, people should be familiar with what they are and they should drive those routes where possible,” he said.

Once P1 and P2 roads are completed, Mr Hynes said that the road referred to by Cllr McGuinness, would be completed, as would the road referred to by Cllr Pratt.

LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS?

Past arrangements in such weather, Cllr Declan Doocey noted, would have seen grit provided to local areas with notable issues, which would then be spread or distributed by locals.

“Maybe that could be continued. We understand the resources and the councils haven't the number of staff to do all we want,” Cllr Doocey said.

He also asked whether the council could facilitate dumping salt or grit at junctions in localities, also to be distributed by locals.

Mr Hynes confirmed that salt and grit could be provided to schools due to the relevant systems being in place at schools for distribution. He noted however, that within housing estates, effective management is not in place, stating that ‘we found in the past that it didn’t work’.

“Putting it down at crossroads, I’ve a difficulty there as well. You get inconsistency. You get some parts of the road done and some parts not and it can lead to issues on the road with patches done and patches not done,” Mr Hynes concluded.