Lancashire highways chief hits back in gritting row (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Lancashire highways chief hits back in gritting row
2:44pm Wednesday 30th January 2013 in News
By Bill Jacobs, Local government reporter
MOVING Gritters out on the road
LANCASHIRE County Council is reviewing the effectiveness of this week’s gritting of roads in East Lancashire.
And the council hit back at claims treatment of the area’s highways was inadequate during and after the snowfall on Monday.
Highways boss Tim Ashton produced figures which he said showed more roads in the East are routinely gritted than in the rest of the county during the winter.
He released the statistics after Barnoldswick county councillor David Whipp spearheaded a host of complaints over the treatment of icy highways in East Lancashire compared to South Lancashire, which comprises Preston, South Ribble, Chorley and Ormskirk areas.
Coun Whipp said: “What I am concerned about is not how much grit the county puts down in East Lancashire but how effective the gritting operation was on Monday in residential areas and what happens in future.
“I am still getting complaints about the state of our roads on Monday and Tuesday.
“The county’s own statistics admit that our topography and weather is worse than the West and South of the county. On Monday they should have shifted gritters from low-lying areas round Preston, where they were not needed, to East Lancashire where they were.”
The county figures show:
- 71 per cent of all roads in the East are on the gritting network, versus 41 per cent of all roads in the South.
- 43 per cent of all roads in the East are priority routes, compared with 31 per cent of all roads in the South.
- 28 per cent of all roads in the East are on secondary routes, compared with 10 per cent in the South.
Highways manager Duncan Reeve said: “During severe weather we run a 24-hour service that constantly reviews the situation and responds to conditions on the ground.
“For example, last weekend as well as treating primary and secondary routes, our crews treated other roads across East Lancashire that were causing problems for local people.
“At the end of every winter we review our activities and take into account all of the feedback we have received.
“Typically winters in East Lancashire are more severe than the rest of the county which is why we have more resources here. Last weekend we had 26 vehicles out in the eastern area, compared with 14 in the south of the county, putting down nearly twice as much salt.”
County highways cabinet member Tim Ashton said: “The claim that we chose to treat more roads in the South than in the East is simply wrong.
“We do all we can to keep traffic moving on the main routes across the county, and our crews worked flat-out to treat priority and secondary routes in all affected areas last weekend.”
Coun Ashton said he called in contractors to clear all secondary highways in East Lancs on Monday and Tuesday after county gritters had treated primary routes, and that some roads not on the normal gritting network were also treated.
Comments(27)
kate11
says...
3:13pm Wed 30 Jan 13
richard a
says...
3:22pm Wed 30 Jan 13
I'm not saying he's not telling the truth but he's not using the best figures to defend himself
chris283
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3:43pm Wed 30 Jan 13
mys
says...
4:53pm Wed 30 Jan 13
travel happy wanderer
says...
5:17pm Wed 30 Jan 13
Pendlesider
says...
5:26pm Wed 30 Jan 13
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well heree's some feedback for all the numpties at Preston town hall...
the fact is the forecast was for heavy snow early hours monday so many secondary routes in Pendle were missed out (including bus routes).
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county winter services? don't make me laugh, there an absolute waste of space here in Pendle which is why gritting should be the responsibility of Pendle borough council, not some county hall in preston who's priorities are clearly NOT the borough of pendle.
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once again lancashire county council got it wrong yet are obviously living in cloud cuckoo land in they think the gritting was 'adequate'... it wasn't, it was WOEFUL!
bronsky
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5:40pm Wed 30 Jan 13
stigofthedump
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6:11pm Wed 30 Jan 13
Yorkshire Dave from gods county
says...
6:32pm Wed 30 Jan 13
stigofthedump wrote:Well said that man
Moan moan moan. Put some winter tyres on. Buy a shovel and get on with it like the rest of Europe instead of moaning about the council.
hasslem hasslem
says...
6:50pm Wed 30 Jan 13
seems to me some people were born to moan - - you can help yourself you know.....get yourself a snow shovel wilkys sell them for less than £5 and a bag of grit costs buttons.
Sajdin
says...
7:09pm Wed 30 Jan 13
You can't expect them to grit every single road, can you? Dont be idiotic !
ste.g
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7:36pm Wed 30 Jan 13
9.20am along came a road sweeper and collected it all up.
so it with my own eyes
psch
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8:56pm Wed 30 Jan 13
nmclean77
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8:57pm Wed 30 Jan 13
lostforwords
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8:58pm Wed 30 Jan 13
psch
says...
9:00pm Wed 30 Jan 13
bly247
says...
9:37pm Wed 30 Jan 13
petestan wrote:get real, these driver's aren't sat around waiting for it to freeze again - how about driver's hours?? How about the fact that the plough blades need to be changed once worn??
Sounds like excuses to me.
Anyway why can't they send the gritters round the side roads once they have gritted all the main roads and secondary routes and are sat around waiting for it to freeze again, even if they just clear the snow with the ploughs fitted to the front of the wagons.
If they don't want to actually grit them just clearing the snow would make life easier for residents and there would be more chance of the snow actually melting rather than staying for days and weeks like it usually does except for the grooves where the cars clear it.
bly247
says...
9:41pm Wed 30 Jan 13
chris283 wrote:really??? drive past your street pretending to grit?? how about they are driving past to get to the start of their route? gritters aren't just sent out randomly, routes are planned. If every gritter started gritting as soon as it left the depot say at burnley, by the time it got to say Colne it would have no grit left!
what a load of tosh do they think were stupid i have seen a few gritters coming down my street but are they gritting no they just drive pass making out they are gritting hahahahah
clickhere
says...
9:50pm Wed 30 Jan 13
stigofthedump wrote:Quite right that man! There has been a huge improvement in both salt spreading and replenishing the grit boxes on the side streets in Great Harwood so far this winter, compared to previous winters. 10 out of ten from me!
Moan moan moan. Put some winter tyres on. Buy a shovel and get on with it like the rest of Europe instead of moaning about the council.
And I'm no great fan of Tim Ashton, whose performance in other areas of transport are pretty abysmal.
Sajdin
says...
10:54pm Wed 30 Jan 13
Stop moaning....
petestan
says...
11:20pm Wed 30 Jan 13
bly247 wrote:So they only have enough driver's for one shift?
petestan wrote:get real, these driver's aren't sat around waiting for it to freeze again - how about driver's hours?? How about the fact that the plough blades need to be changed once worn??
Sounds like excuses to me.
Anyway why can't they send the gritters round the side roads once they have gritted all the main roads and secondary routes and are sat around waiting for it to freeze again, even if they just clear the snow with the ploughs fitted to the front of the wagons.
If they don't want to actually grit them just clearing the snow would make life easier for residents and there would be more chance of the snow actually melting rather than staying for days and weeks like it usually does except for the grooves where the cars clear it.
How about they have more than 1 driver to a vehicle to make themselves more efficient but oh no then the driver's would be all upset as they are effectively their own vehicle.
As for the precious plough blades need changing, well that's called wear and tear and they only need changing IF they actually use the blades. If they only use grit on the main roads, which they should only have to, then the plough's are hardly ever used anyway so why not use them to clear the side roads, I'm not asking them to use their precious grit that is only for use on selected roads just the plough.
I used to work in Settle and you could always tell where the border was because you could guarantee the Yorkshire roads were clear and well gritted whereas on the Lancs. side they had not been touched.
oracle999
says...
12:01am Thu 31 Jan 13
bly247 wrote:Gritters are exempt from EC tacho rules just for the record
petestan wrote:get real, these driver's aren't sat around waiting for it to freeze again - how about driver's hours?? How about the fact that the plough blades need to be changed once worn??
Sounds like excuses to me.
Anyway why can't they send the gritters round the side roads once they have gritted all the main roads and secondary routes and are sat around waiting for it to freeze again, even if they just clear the snow with the ploughs fitted to the front of the wagons.
If they don't want to actually grit them just clearing the snow would make life easier for residents and there would be more chance of the snow actually melting rather than staying for days and weeks like it usually does except for the grooves where the cars clear it.
i.s.
says...
5:10pm Thu 31 Jan 13
kate11
says...
8:34pm Thu 31 Jan 13
petestan
says...
10:36pm Thu 31 Jan 13
i.s. wrote:I would say the council even clear the pavement in the shopping area BUT don't touch the road and pavements on High Street where the OAP flats are effectively leaving them trapped for days on end yet it's 100 yards off the shopping area. They can't go clearing it themselves.
Have to say that Colne is usually pretty treacherous in wintry conditions but this year the LCC did an exceptional job keeping the main roads clear. the side roads were pretty bad but all it takes is a bit of common sense and a shovel. Stop winging!,
ROBERTSLUMDWELLER123
says...
3:22pm Tue 5 Feb 13
stigofthedump wrote:i lived all over Europe for 17 yearsHolland/Germany
Moan moan moan. Put some winter tyres on. Buy a shovel and get on with it like the rest of Europe instead of moaning about the council.
/France etc and roads and pavements were all cleared of snow,so shut up about places you know nothing about..
petestan says...
3:13pm Wed 30 Jan 13
Anyway why can't they send the gritters round the side roads once they have gritted all the main roads and secondary routes and are sat around waiting for it to freeze again, even if they just clear the snow with the ploughs fitted to the front of the wagons.
If they don't want to actually grit them just clearing the snow would make life easier for residents and there would be more chance of the snow actually melting rather than staying for days and weeks like it usually does except for the grooves where the cars clear it.