Lack of gritting - deadly, outrageous and unacceptable.

Zoney

There seems to have been no gritting whatsoever on some roads here in Limerick recently, including even the motorway (M20). Judging by the news reports, this is happening across the country - I don't know if it is either due to lack of funds, priorities, no Christmas cover or a combination. It's particularly shocking that even the motorway network seems to be getting no attention in places, nevermind the national road network (I think we can of course assume back roads etc. can't get much attention even if gritting was more widespread).

Surely people (specific individuals right up to government - i.e. those directly responsible as well as people such as the Minister for transport) need to be held accountable for this situation - lives are at stake. They should be prosecuted where possible and certain should have to resign. Those responsible for bean-counting and money allocation/prioritisation need to be held to account too.

Nozebleed

i agree...its a disgrace.

AlekSmart

With the National Roads Maintenance budget cut by 20% we are now seeing the first real effects of the need to fund the survival of our Native Bankers and Property Developers.

The current spell of freezing weather alread has seen fatalities and will see more as Local Authorities have no funding to provide services such as gritting.

Eventually it will come down to people having to choose between services such as Libraries OR Road Treatment...it really is that bad.

It`s sadly all to typical of where modern Ireland now stands..

Brand New Motorway Network....No Money to maintain it.
Youngest Bus Fleet profile in Europe....No Money to continue operating it
Huge Infrastructural Investment in Railway Network.....No resources to continue or attract new business.
New Bridges unable to serve any real function due to inability to plan effectively
New Airport Terminals which will probably lie unused when complete .
Hospitals with complete wards closed due to no funding available.

In short we inhabit a travesty of a country which in reality has progressed little from the Ireland of the 1970s .

Stark

As well as the tragic fatalities, there must surely be a high economic cost from effectively immobilising the entire country for days and weeks on end while we don't bother to treat our roads. Terribly short-sighted move to cut the maintenance budget.

BrianD

It is very concerning to hear of a fatal accident on the M11, a 5 car pile up on the M1 and that parts of the M6 are dangerous. These are all high quality national routeways.

While we are experiencing very cold conditions, I wouldn't regard them as very severe conditions. The road gritting equipment that all councils possess can deal with the conditions that we now have. Of course it is impossible to guarantee ice free roads and motorists do need to exercise care and attention.

My concern is that in the past, road gritting was taking place too late. You'd be in rush hour traffic and gritters would be going past for the first time. In other words, it's being done during normal working hours. Was gritting reduced because it was a bank holiday? We have excellent access to weather forecasting information and the NRA have a national network of weather stations with temperature sensors in the road surface.

I hope Dempsey will be asking questions of the councils and the NRA as to what was going on this weekend instead of listening to concil representations about petrol stations.

AlekSmart

My concern is that in the past, road gritting was taking place too late. You'd be in rush hour traffic and gritters would be going past for the first time. In other words, it's being done during normal working hours.

An interesting observation BrianD and one which I can perhaps add to.

My late father worked for Dublin Corporation as a labourer and each winter he would have occasion to work on "Sanding" crews during cold snaps.

I can remember him getting up at 3.30 AM to head for Orchard Road Depot to load and then stand on the back of a normal flat Bedford tipper-truck.
All of this was manual sanding as the Corpo had few if any automatic gritters,a situation which prevailed all the way up to the mid 1980`s.

This was all overtime work and he would then report for his normal day`s work at 8AM.

If the freeze was particularly severe then the crews would also get called for evening sanding,which was far less common.

All of this was long before Satellite Weather Information,the NRA or Noel Dempsey.....I can only echo your sentiment.....

I hope Dempsey will be asking questions of the councils and the NRA as to what was going on this weekend instead of listening to concil representations about petrol stations.

Sadly Mr Dempsey`s track record tends to point to the latter course of action as his preferred pastime :mad:

Run_to_da_hills

I know much of the sand and grit availible by the Clare CC is frozen solid for the last few days.

gally74

its a disgrace and while incompetent co councils do this, they will contiue to mis manage resources and funds,

its not about cutting budgets, its the way they spend and manage the money,

its a disgrace, if this was happeneing in dublin, RTe would be all over it

Absurdum

gally74 wrote: »

its a disgrace, if this was happeneing in dublin, RTe would be all over it

erm, it did, the M1 wasn't treated today resulting in a 5 car accident

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1228/weather.html

Mutz

Tried to travel to Dublin on Stephens day. The main roads in Co. Mayo had an inch of solid ice on them so only made it about 7 miles.

It was impossible to drive up any form of incline, no matter how small.

Ended up having a crash into a poor fella who was stationary as my car slid across the road due to the camber on the bend.

Really angry at Mayo County Council.

Ended taking my chances the following day thanks to a climb in temperature.

Again another two finger salute to the people of this country from the government.

101sean

Had to go to Shannon early yesterday, S Tipp roads were v bad, complete contrast as soon as over the Limerick border.

Tipps roads were bad again this morning inc on the M8 in Cashel. I was told by someone in the know that they were gritted last night but they are now out of grit.

I used to run the winter gritting for a council in the UK some years ago. With this level of frost you need to do it twice a day, we would do it at 4am and 4pm.

Problem Christmas Day/Stephens Day was heavy rain on top of freezing ground, any roads that were gritted, the rain washed it off and then froze. Not a lot you can do other than gritting again.

Clueless drivers don't help but I've struggled on sheet ice in a well equiped Land Rover with traction control.

Chris_533976

I'd imagine a lot of the problems are a refusal to pay overtime on a bank holiday for the gritters to be out.

df1985

i drove to new market on fergus in clare on xma eve and back today, taking the m6 route into loughrea, onto gort, and down the m18.have to say i had no real problems, the M6 seemed fine all the way, only dodgy spot was the road between loughrea and gort but that wasnt terrible by any means.
speaking to relatives in galway though they did say the M6 between ballinasloe and athlone was bad for a time on stephens day.

have to drive to westport new years eve....praying the raods are gritted!

Kingdom

I live in Portarlington, straddling the Laois/Offaly border, and we've had a particularily cold spell for what seems an awfully long time, but not once has the roads been poor, credit where its due, both councils have done their bit.

Contrast that where my wife's clann are from, Prosperous only a few miles down the road from where we were - the roads were deadly and untreated.

steph1

Judging by the comments on here it seems certain councils did grit the roads and others didn't and what I cannot understand is that its not that we dont know about the road conditions or the long range forecast. The nra site with its air and road temperature is excellent and so also is the aa roadwatch site.
I travelled up to Dublin from Mayo on Christmas Eve and while some of the roads out of Ballina were ok once I hit Ballaghadereen and on then to Longford they were pretty bad and so was the fog which did not help. And the muppets who persist in driving and crazy speeds for the weather conditions or insist on driving up your rear end and overtaking in stupid places do not help either.
I travelled back on Sunday the 27th and the Charlestown By Pass was terrible and I dont think that any gritting had been done by Mayo County Council. Also in Roscommon in Ballaghadereen the road was just like a skating rink.
All I heard on the radio going up and down was warnings from the Gardai not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Well my journey was necessary as I was going to family for Christmas. Its all very well for the Gardai to issue warnings like this but that does not excuse the Councils from not doing the work for which they are being paid to do and that we are paying our taxes for. They must be making a fortune from road taxes in this country. What are they doing with it as I dont see any vast improvements in the roads in the west bar the by-passes. Some of the roads in the major towns are a disgrace. There should be questions asked now by the Ministers for the Environment and Transport as to why some counties had their roads gritted and others didn't. Of course drivers need to take care in these weather conditions but the Councils have a duty to do their job properly as well.

ednwireland

my neighbours were out gritting the roads yesterday evening the roads into town (2 miles away ) have 4 inches of solid ice on them. donegal coco have basically run out of grit and sand and there suppliers in carrickfergus cant get deliverys in quick enough.
also donegal CoCo have been running a deficit for the past 3 months so doubt theres much money around (nice to see one of the local councillors lanes get a gritting !)
just done my drive with what little sand and grit i have lying around
might get to work tomorrow (clients in uk already complaining no-one in office despite most people hooked in on broadband an responding to emails and mobile calls)
think its every person for themselves at the moment (thank god for my neighbours with 4x4 and tractors)

Heroditas

We're due to be heading down to Westport from Dublin tomorrow and staying until Saturday.
I'm starting to have severe reservations now. We may get down ok but the weather is due to get much worse with some severe snow so it could be risky coming back.
Oh what to do....

steph1

Heroditas wrote: »

We're due to be heading down to Westport from Dublin tomorrow and staying until Saturday.
I'm starting to have severe reservations now. We may get down ok but the weather is due to get much worse with some severe snow so it could be risky coming back.
Oh what to do....

Well all I can advise you to do is check the NRA site which will give you the road temperatures and air temperatures for the areas you will be passing through. Its hard to know what to do with this weather. I was advised to head to Dublin on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas morning just in case the roads were not gritted and I was glad that I took that advice. Also have a look at the weather forecasts for the region. Its ok here in Ballina today a bit windy and cold but there is a bit of a thaw but how long that will last I dont know.
Anyway if you decide to travel take care. Another alternative would be take the train.

steph1

Heroditis this is the weather forecast from yahoo for Westport for the next few days hope this helps

TomorrowLight Rain/Wind High: 2° Low: 1°.
ThursdayAM Rain/Snow Showers High: 3° Low: -2°.
FridayPartly Cloudy High: 1° Low: -2°.
SaturdayPartly Cloudy High: 1° Low: -2°

Kristopherus

Not that bad at all in the West today. The spitting rain has brought a rise in temp. Tonight wont bring any heavy frost. It is tomorrow (Wed) night that will have low temps. If you travel in daylight you should be ok.

Heroditas

Thanks for the information guys. Doesn't look too bad.
What worries me most is the road conditions around Longford. They seem to have been bad the last week.
Anyway, I guess we'll be making a final decision tomorrow morning.

road_high

Just like to add my feelings of disguist once again at the Councils and their lack of action on gritting our roads. We are all paying top dollar for road tax in this country and the very least you expect is them to be treated in times of need on deadly ice such as recent days.
Maybe road maintenance needs to be just taken off the councils and centralised into one efficient authority for once and for all. Sadly they have once again proven they are not capable of delivering even a basic level of maintenance and people's lives have been put at risk as a consequence.

gally74

well barna waste are able to collect the rubbish even thou the roads are deadly,

however if the council was still doing this job id bet they wouldnt be collecting,

not good enough!

df1985

Heroditas wrote: »

We're due to be heading down to Westport from Dublin tomorrow and staying until Saturday.
I'm starting to have severe reservations now. We may get down ok but the weather is due to get much worse with some severe snow so it could be risky coming back.
Oh what to do....

im doing the same, not looking forward to the drive, longford to roscommon seems to be the worst stretch going by reports, mayo co council have salted their section of the N5. as it stands we are still travelling but what happens tonight will have a massive bearing on it. we've had one driver in the group pull out already.

i drove to clare xmas eve and back on monday and i found it not terrible, but had to take it easy.

Heroditas

df1985 wrote: »

im doing the same, not looking forward to the drive, longford to roscommon seems to be the worst stretch going by reports, mayo co council have salted their section of the N5. as it stands we are still travelling but what happens tonight will have a massive bearing on it. we've had one driver in the group pull out already.

i drove to clare xmas eve and back on monday and i found it not terrible, but had to take it easy.

Well we decided to postpone until possibly tomorrow. We reckoned we were ok heading down but it's the return journey that is worrying us!

Apparently much of Mayo is experiencing heavy snow today and tonight. Then they're expecting temperatures as low as -9 over the next couple of days.
At this rate, I think we'll be staying put in Dublin.

murphaph

I drove Dublin-Giant's Causeway-Dublin on the 27th and although there was severe frost and sow in parts, the roads were fine the whole way. Passed a gritter on the A1 southbound and 2 gritters in Louth on the M1. Credit to them.

Different story on the 28th whilst driving Dublin-Bunratty. M7 in Laois was only usable in the left lane as it hadn't been treated in and around Portlaoise. Then the worst of it was the N7 through tipp. Absolute disgrace, car wobbling all over the place as were the cars in front of me. Luckily I was driving a FWD passat, the poor sod in the RWD Merc in front of me was really struggling to keep it together. As soon as we got into Offaly it cleared up again. There's no excuse for not gritting the national primary routes through any county, especially if they are gritting local roads instead.

A quick fair play to SDCC too. Their gritters seem to follow a rigid route and it was the same roads around my home place that were gritted as every year. You can actually plan a journey that way.

flazio

So is it the responsibility of the county/city/urban district council which the route is passing through to grit the roads? Surely there should be a NRA led gritting team for the maintenance of the national and motorway road network and leave the councils to grit the more regional routes and towns.(maybe even the footpaths perhaps)

Zoney

flazio:

Indeed there should. But there isn't.

At the bare minimum, the motorway network should have centralised standard management (including such amazing things as checking wire barriers and replacing directly after accidents or when detensioned sections are found by inspection - not just if reported). But really the entire primary route network should be included in such maintanance.

I wouldn't mind either if we ended up with a monolithic roads service like they have in NI, and councils only dealt with local roads - i.e. the roads service would manage R and secondary N as well as primary N/M roads.

However, it wouldn't work any better if it was still underresourced, poorly run and poorly funded. People may pay a lot of motor tax but it doesn't go any distance to make up for the very low levels of taxation generally here (corporate, personal *and* local). The motor tax if "fenced off" for roads would simply mean a vast gap in funding general services. Those labouring under the illusion that we pay a lot of tax here are deluded - you can easily pay less here than in the US which isn't renowned for being pro-taxation (you get poorer wages too, and are taxed on the lowest wages also).

AlekSmart

Those labouring under the illusion that we pay a lot of tax here are deluded - you can easily pay less here than in the US which isn't renowned for being pro-taxation (you get poorer wages too, and are taxed on the lowest wages also).

Sound man Zoney,it`s interesting to see how this thread is developing.

One thing it indicates is that some of us,at least,are smelling the coffee aroma of a reality which our leadership has conspired to hide away from us for two decades or more.

Probably the single biggest difference between Us and the U.S (!!) is in attitude.

Even in the poorest areas of America there is a sound appreciation of the function of the individuals "Tax-Dollar".
The entire U.S. Administrative system is based upon the Taxpayer being entitled to a set of services and return from that "Tax-Dollar" and when the Taxpayer percieves they are NOT recieving that then they DO raise a stink...particularly at Local Level.

The other great difference is the levels of direct accountability which is an integral part of the U.S. system which ensures that local communities have a direct and VERY effective method of punishing those Local Administrators who get above their station.

However,we have what we have and it`s quite apparent that our system is banjaxed in its current state.

One of the answers,in situations such as the current weather related stuff,is to empower local voluntary self-help groups by removing the huge cloak fo fear which now surrounds any attempt by folks to help themselves.

Many area`s in rural Ireland had long standing arrangements whereby Local Authorities left bags of Gritting Material at strategic locations for locals to use as required.
Now we hear that this commsense practice has ceased as the Authorities Law Agents are concerned regarding "Liability" issues.

The level at which Ireland and the U.K. have embraced the purest undiluted Bullshyt is bayond belief and is in no small part responsible for our countries current malaise.

We have adopted every EU directive and rule at it`s most restrictive,even when offered more realistic options,then we have rigidly ENFORCED the most nonsensical of these when the rest of the REAL Europeans took a far more pragmatic and realistic view of the same laws.

We (The Irish) need to get a grip and fast !!

spank_inferno

My in-Laws are from Wisconsin and as anyone who knows that state knows it can get pretty cold.

When the snow starts the ploughs and salters are out in force, Interstates, normal roads and housing estates are all kept very clear, round the clock.

Sometimes they are caught out by the sheer speed at which the weather can degrade however 99% of the time they are top notch.

I back up what the previous poster said, they do pay more in income tax (though less in sales tax) And they do not tolerate inactivity regarding keeping the roads clear.

Cookie_Monster

spank_inferno wrote: »

My in-Laws are from Wisconsin and as anyone who knows that state knows it can get pretty cold.

When the snow starts the ploughs and salters are out in force, Interstates, normal roads and housing estates are all kept very clear, round the clock.

Sometimes they are caught out by the sheer speed at which the weather can degrade however 99% of the time they are top notch.

I back up what the previous poster said, they do pay more in income tax (though less in sales tax) And they do not tolerate inactivity regarding keeping the roads clear.

But that would happen on a regular basis in Wisconsin, no? Ie 30+ days a year I'd imagine.

Here there is no need for all that expensive equipment that may only be used 3-4 days in an average year. Granted whats happening now is exceptional and probably more likely in future years with "Climate Change" but it hardly worth the huge capital and running expense.

Simply having winter tyres would help a lot but most Irish motorist would struggle to change a tyre let alone know the difference and keep 4 in the garage. In Germany it is a requirement to have winter tyres on the car in bad weather.

Heroditas

Zoney wrote: »

Those labouring under the illusion that we pay a lot of tax here are deluded - you can easily pay less here than in the US which isn't renowned for being pro-taxation (you get poorer wages too, and are taxed on the lowest wages also).

Ah but that's the difference.
Here, a very large % of workers don't pay any income tax while the rest take up the considerable tax.
As a result, we then pay to have our bins collected, we will soon pay taxes on our houses despite paying tax to buy them and will also be charged for water.
I have no problem paying for these things but not when I'm paying over 50% on a large portion of my wage to the government who is supposed to be using that money to provide these services.
Some areas in the US have very low income tax rates - e.g. Oregon's top tax rate is 9%!!!!
Even when you add the federal rates, the tax rates are still less than here.

Anyway, back to the topic!

spank_inferno

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

But that would happen on a regular basis in Wisconsin, no? Ie 30+ days a year I'd imagine.

Here there is no need for all that expensive equipment that may only be used 3-4 days in an average year. Granted whats happening now is exceptional and probably more likely in future years with "Climate Change" but it hardly worth the huge capital and running expense.

Simply having winter tyres would help a lot but most Irish motorist would struggle to change a tyre let alone know the difference and keep 4 in the garage. In Germany it is a requirement to have winter tyres on the car in bad weather.

Your points are fair.
However why not make that investment?
Why have local authorities not planned for such a turn of weather.
" in winter it can get cold" Really?

Why do they run out of salt & sand? (neither are perishable)
Why do they run out of money to pay for it? (donegal)

Its 2010, and my local authority (wicklow) cant clear the Sally/Wicklow Gap.
It seems that these roads are just abandoned for 1-2 months every year.
Why is this?

This country doesnt lack for money, I do feel it lacks the will to tackle this.

murphaph

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

In Germany it is a requirement to have winter tyres on the car in bad weather.

It isn't a legal requirement but if you have a crash and are found to be driving with unsuitable tyres your insurance company may invalidate your claim. All season tyres are also common here, my GF's car has them.

parsi

AlekSmart wrote: »

One of the answers,in situations such as the current weather related stuff,is to empower local voluntary self-help groups by removing the huge cloak fo fear which now surrounds any attempt by folks to help themselves.

Many area`s in rural Ireland had long standing arrangements whereby Local Authorities left bags of Gritting Material at strategic locations for locals to use as required.
Now we hear that this commsense practice has ceased as the Authorities Law Agents are concerned regarding "Liability" issues.

All you need is one fecker to have a skid and sue left right and centre. Sure even a Cork City councillor sued the corpo over a slippy step.

It's time for folk to accept some responsibility - we can't have a nanny state sorting out absolutely everything. We can't afford to grit each and every inch of road and footpath.

Perhaps it would be best if the councils said point blank - "we will guarantee to grit the main roads and the following main thoroughfares. BTW we will also pursue those who allow water to runoff onto thoroughfares and footpaths."

Can you imagine the uproar from the politicos ? Can you imagine the Indo when on a slow news day it writes about an expensive gritter/plough which "scandalously lies unused for 340 days of the year" ?

The problem it is easier for the Minister to say nothing and leave the councils deal with the flak for not gritting granny's road or for gritting granda's road when really jimbob's road should have been prioritised.

Cookie_Monster

spank_inferno wrote: »

Why do they run out of salt & sand? (neither are perishable)
Why do they run out of money to pay for it? (donegal)

1. Because to stockpile vast quantities would be a waste of space, money and time.

2. Because I very much doubt any council has money just lying around to spend on road gritting at the very end of the year when there are so many more important thing that need funding.

spank_inferno wrote: »

Its 2010, and my local authority (wicklow) cant clear the Sally/Wicklow Gap.
It seems that these roads are just abandoned for 1-2 months every year.
Why is this?

This country doesnt lack for money, I do feel it lacks the will to tackle this.

But the Sally Gap is just a very lightly used back road with numerous drive arounds - yes some of them are quite a bit longer but even so its not really an important road.

This country certainly does lack money. Why else were tax raised, wages cut, benefit cut in the budget?

parsi wrote: »

It's time for folk to accept some responsibility - we can't have a nanny state sorting out absolutely everything. We can't afford to grit each and every inch of road and footpath.

Perhaps it would be best if the councils said point blank - "we will guarantee to grit the main roads and the following main thoroughfares. BTW we will also pursue those who allow water to runoff onto thoroughfares and footpaths."

I 100% agree with these two points.

So what if some roads are unusable for 4 or 5 days a year? no country in the world has the money or resources to clear every road, especially one in our situation where it happens so rarely. If we had heavy snow on a yearly basis it would be a different situation.

Finally just because a road has not been treated doesn't mean its un-driveable. And if it is bad enough to be undrivable how do you think they would get the grit trucks up to treat it anyway

AlekSmart

Here there is no need for all that expensive equipment that may only be used 3-4 days in an average year. Granted whats happening now is exceptional and probably more likely in future years with "Climate Change" but it hardly worth the huge capital and running expense.

Interestingly enough,Cookie_Monster,the Irish Local Authorities recieved a substantial upgrade of their equipment following a "Big Freeze" a couple of years back.
It was well thought out in that it focused on purchasing up-specced vehicles and multi-purpose demountable gritting equipment which alows for maximum flexibility for minimum cost.
Most Local Authorities now have snow-plough blade attachments to bolt onto the 4WD trucks.

However,in true Gaelic style,having splashed out on all of this desirable mechanical stuff,our Local Authorities now appear to have shag-all money to operate the things...The story of modern Ireland in a nutshell.

DWCommuter

They also lack a cohesive nationally endorsed reaction plan.

Happy New Year. Hic!

Zoney

parsi wrote: »

It's time for folk to accept some responsibility - we can't have a nanny state sorting out absolutely everything. We can't afford to grit each and every inch of road and footpath.

This is an irrelevant argument in the present situation. MOTORWAYS and national primary routes have not been gritted. That is not remotely sane or acceptable - they are critical infrastructure and even during holidays are required for keeping the country operational.

pork99

AlekSmart wrote: »

It`s sadly all to typical of where modern Ireland now stands..

Brand New Motorway Network....No Money to maintain it.
Youngest Bus Fleet profile in Europe....No Money to continue operating it
Huge Infrastructural Investment in Railway Network.....No resources to continue or attract new business.
New Bridges unable to serve any real function due to inability to plan effectively
New Airport Terminals which will probably lie unused when complete .
Hospitals with complete wards closed due to no funding available.

In short we inhabit a travesty of a country which in reality has progressed little from the Ireland of the 1970s .

That's what happens when one votes to put a collection of village idiots and petty criminals in charge of the country.

gally74

add in unions too!!!

if they were still collecting rubbish it would nt be done either,

one word, privatise it

parsi

Zoney wrote: »

This is an irrelevant argument in the present situation. MOTORWAYS and national primary routes have not been gritted. That is not remotely sane or acceptable - they are critical infrastructure and even during holidays are required for keeping the country operational.

It is relevant.

We need to decide exactly what will be gritted - if a local council feels (possibly because her local councillor lives there as well) that Mrs Ryan's lane is as important as the main road then we'll continue to be squandering resources.

DWCommuter

Work with it each other and not against. Unfortunately parish pump politics actually runs the country. While they were all on the lash last night the country was abandoned to deplorable weather conditions. No grit anywhere in the Naas area. (for example) The M7 is a disgrace. Dublin Coach have just shut their service down for the day.

And I don't want to hear from some sexually frustrated internet warrior accusing me of over reacting and that this kind of thing happens in other countries. Im only concerned with it happening in this country, the one that was bragged about by Bertie and his buddies.

DWCommuter

Current situation on AA Roadwatch

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/

From reading that it would suggest that our motorway network was not gritted last night. Now that is indefensible. Was it money or the fact that it was New Years eve and nobody wanted to work. Bare in mind that these icy conditions are forecast for the next 48 hours. So when can we expect some gritting? Monday morning could bring chaos.

road_high

Just like to agree with other posters on the sheer ludricous situation here of National Primary and Motorways not being gritted. This is third world, really and truly. Passed through Laois today on the N8 and it was white as snow for much of it. I dunno, but I think this kind of lunacy would be unheard of in the UK and most of Western Europe.

And the Councils have the sheer hypocrisy to talk about Road "Safety". I.e. my own local authority has ads on the local radio promoting No Drinking/Driving etc.....and yet they won't do basic things like salt roads in freezing conditions :eek:

parsi

DWCommuter wrote: »

And I don't want to hear from some sexually frustrated internet warrior accusing me of over reacting and that this kind of thing happens in other countries.

I agree with absolutely everything that you've said and that you're about to say .

Now does that mean that I'm not a SFIW ?

devnull

It's hardly surprising through is it that they were probably out drinking last night rather than gritting the roads, it's what I would come to expect from this country, so it's hardly a surprise.

Sure who cares about safety and roads, long as someone can get hammered last night what does it matter?

DWCommuter

mfitzy wrote: »

Just like to agree with other posters on the sheer ludricous situation here of National Primary and Motorways not being gritted. This is third world, really and truly. Passed through Laois today on the N8 and it was white as snow for much of it. I dunno, but I think this kind of lunacy would be unheard of in the UK and most of Western Europe.

And the Councils have the sheer hypocrisy to talk about Road "Safety". I.e. my own local authority has ads on the local radio promoting No Drinking/Driving etc.....and yet they won't do basic things like salt roads in freezing conditions :eek:

Nobody expects every road to be treated. But to have national primary routes in this condition is taking the piss. Its only a light covering of snow that has frozen. Its not Antartic conditions. Looks to me like they (councils) all took the night off and to hell with the consequences. Of course if it was a full throttle working day, then the media would be up in arms. But sure its New Years day. Relax at home. Enjoy a jar. Happy new year and all that oirish bull****.

The next time the RSA or KCC try to ram a safety message down my throat, they can go and **** off.

aliveandkicking

DWCommuter wrote: »

Current situation on AA Roadwatch

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/

From reading that it would suggest that our motorway network was not gritted last night. Now that is indefensible. Was it money or the fact that it was New Years eve and nobody wanted to work. Bare in mind that these icy conditions are forecast for the next 48 hours. So when can we expect some gritting? Monday morning could bring chaos.

I have a feeling this could be down to the whole public sector pay issue. Overtime and pay has been cut. That means theres no council workers getting paid overtime to grit on New Years Eve and the Christmas period as a whole. As basic pay has also been cut the gritters when they are out are probably not achieving the same level of productivity that thay did last year for example. I suppose half the country has been calling for public sector pay cuts for the last year. Sadly this is one of the consequences and I suppose there will be more over the coming year.

Carawaystick

mfitzy wrote: »

Just like to agree with other posters on the sheer ludricous situation here of National Primary and Motorways not being gritted. This is third world, really and truly. Passed through Laois today on the N8 and it was white as snow for much of it. I dunno, but I think this kind of lunacy would be unheard of in the UK and most of Western Europe.

And the Councils have the sheer hypocrisy to talk about Road "Safety". I.e. my own local authority has ads on the local radio promoting No Drinking/Driving etc.....and yet they won't do basic things like salt roads in freezing conditions :eek:

The non-party minister for interfering with public transport and free hairdos has a plan to close all local A&E's and only have major hospitals dealing with patients. On the other hand we have national routes impassible, preventing people needing to get to Hospital from getting there.
I heard Ming Flannagan on radio yesterday saying Roscommon co.co. have no money to deal with the conditions because they are paying landlords about twice the market rate of rent under instructions from central govt. He also said people would die because they can't get to hospital.

Zoney

parsi wrote: »

It is relevant.

We need to decide exactly what will be gritted - if a local council feels (possibly because her local councillor lives there as well) that Mrs Ryan's lane is as important as the main road then we'll continue to be squandering resources.

Fair enough point, but I'm just saying I don't think the lack of gritting on major routes is due to this because it's not like the councils are off gritting backroads or estates. It would appear some councils are not gritting at the moment, full stop.