We could save £ 195,000 on the salt we use on winter roads, claims authority

A HIGHWAYS authority that faced criticism over its winter gritting has revealed a plan to drastically cut the amount of salt it spreads on roads during icy weather.

North Yorkshire County Council has said it could save up to £ 195,000 a year due to recent improvements in the ability of gritter lorries to spread more accurately and a reduction in the average age of the county council’s gritting fleet.

The authority, which is facing having to make further largescale cuts to its budget, has said a 40 per cent cut in its spending power due to Government austerity cuts had made it “impossible to provide some of the programmes we previously did”.

The proposal follows the council dismissing calls in recent years to review its gritting policies amid claims that parts of the county have repeatedly been gridlocked due to a lack of gritting.

Under the Highways Act 1980, councils have a duty to ensure within reason that safe passage along roads is not endangered by snow or ice, while the Traffic Management Act of 2004 requires authorities to do all that is reasonably practicable to manage the network effectively to keep traffic moving.

The Local Government Association says with the salt and grit mix costing up to £ 40 per tonne, this duty can weigh heavily on councils, particularly when there are long, cold winters that may require lots of gritting to take place on the roads.

While no two winters will be the same, analysis of the salting runs in 2018/ 19 shows that had the option to salt at a minimum of 9g per square metre been available it would have resulted in a saving of over 3,300 tonnes of salt, saving the council around £ 120,000.

Leader of the council’s Independent opposition group Councillor Stuart Parsons said the 50 per cent salt and 50 per cent sand and grit mix used by the council’s lorries meant it had little impact on ice and left enormous amounts of residue on the roads.

He said: “Every year groups such as Richmond Pride are faced with clearing 30 or 40 bin bags of grit that has been flung out on the road.”