KEEPING the roads gritted and free of ice during the winter is an expensive business. This is because on top of the grit, it requires a fleet of lorries and loading machines, storage areas and of course a dedicated workforce that are ready to turn out 24 hours a day seven days a week for up to six months of the year – the fixed costs.
We focus our efforts on the key routes, the A and B roads, main bus routes and clearing access to hospitals. This involves gritting 1,000 miles of roads up to three times a day and at any hour of the day or night. When these routes need less attention we grit a further 500 miles. In total, just over half of the county's roads. To achieve this level of service we have to provide a fleet of 34 gritters and an operations team that involves over 100 staff so that we can provide cover around the clock.
The roads that are not gritted are generally the ones that carry far less traffic – the back roads and residential estates. To include these roads, gritting operations would have to be diverted away from the key routes or a lot more money would be needed. In turn this could take cash away from other vital services. To be able to grit more of the county's roads would mean a big increase in the resources that would have to be available and there would be a big increase in the fixed costs.
Most of the public do appreciate this, but understandably we still get calls to grit very minor rural roads or residential cul-de-sacs. Unfortunately, we just cannot accommodate these requests. The county council does supply grit to parish and town councils to keep grit bins stocked and local communities are encouraged to use these supplies. Weather warnings are regularly issued and we must remind drivers that not all roads will be salted, so to check before you travel and to drive very carefully on icy and untreated roads. Changing the way drivers approach these conditions and us all accepting that severe weather is going to cause some disruption to our normal routes, has by far the biggest impact on how safe the roads are in winter.
If longer, harder winters become the norm, then I am sure that local councils and indeed motorists will make changes. At the moment, their duration, severity and frequency do not justify a wholesale change. In the future, we may all carry snow chains in our car boots, use studded tyres and the council operate a fleet of snow blowing machines. – Duncan Jordan, Group Director of Environment, Gloucestershire.