is your local council doing enough to keep the roads clear

[the shadow]

i think that the councils need to buck the idears up . or is it just me

 

[Sean_Mc]

Can't really blame them, not seen weather like this since last year

 

[31bb3]

Well they cant say they didnt know it was coming

 

[Wez]

Cant complain here, regular gritters around all roads except very rural lanes.

North Warwickshire.

 

[the shadow]

thats my point . wen major roads like the a are down to 10mph and not a plow in site

 

[dennisking]

Had my hair cut yesterday and the woman who cut it her husband is a gritter, got an insight into the hours and conditions they where working under. Think its a thankless task, they will never please every one.

 

[the shadow]

im not haveing a jab a the lads on the gritters. i just dont think the councils have the rite aproch. the lads that do the griting round this way are the bin men on over time.

 

[Baz Chaz]

We were up in Scotland when the first lot hit hard this year, when the M8 M9 M90 etc were all closed :!:

The problem that happened would still have happened if they'd had twice as many gritters / ploughs and Scotland, historically, have been very good at keeping the road network moving.

Basically the roads had been gritted, the temperature plummeted and the snowfall came so quickly again but traffic was already on the roads and struggling, then because of the amount of stuck traffic the ploughs couldnt get to the roads again, once they were blocked the highways crews were stuffed.

The day we travelled back, as we approached Glasgow the traffic was actually following a plough / grittter through the snow, then we suddenly hit a blizzard, traffic slowed and slowed then stopped, HGV;s up front following the plough couldn't get any grip so the whole lot ground to a halt, we were lucky, we were in my 'Toyota tractor' and went down the slip road and round the HGV's and managed to get onto the M74 via the A725 (which was horrendous).

Back home, we live on the (minor) road to the village school and in previous years the road has never been gritted, but after a long campaign by the school headteacher and others,(there's no footpaths, people and cars share the road) the road to school has been upgraded and will be gritted, but only after main roads etc. So the road gets done maybe 24 hours after snowfall and when the ice is particularly bad. The side roads remain untreated, but at least with one road in the village getting done you have a 'fighting change' of getting out :!:

 

[Grumpy Jack]

No. The main roads are clear but most smaller roads are bad and there's a lot of cars snowbound...

Do I think they could do more? Not a lot, no.

I've NEVER seen snow fall this deep and this fast here in Essex. I'd like them to do more but they've had more snow ploughs than I've ever seen out on the roads and we're right out on the edge here and they're getting through and keeping main roads clear, ask me if I feel the same tomorrow and the smaller roads still have no sign of a gritter or anything and maybe I'll moan a little, but I guess I think that it's too easy to moan quickly, it seems to me that sometimes because we get instant news we expect instant solutions... This weather, at least here, is exceptional... ok, twice in a year, but if it doesn't happen again for five years it'll be twice in five years and can I hand-on-heart say I want them to spend millions on extra vehicles for that sort of scenario? I don't know that it's my number 1 priority... :wha:

 

[graysalchemy]

Our roads are clear except the side roads and residential streets which are treacherous. My neighbour has written of his car, well the insurance has for a smash at 10mph. His car is only worth £600.00 and he had £150 excess plus a £250 excess so they will only give him £200.00

Robbing barstewards

 

[the shadow]

he can save his no claims . tow the car down to some where like emr ( scarp metal exporters) the price of scrap at the monent a avrage war is worth £150 . make sure he takes the weels off wen he gets there or there will take £20 a tyer off the price to dispose of them :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

In the last 20 years we have had bad snow 3 times. . . . Now our council could spend 20 million on buying a fleet of ploughs and snow blowers to keep all the roads clear, so that the gritters can work . . . Good use of council tax? Not really . . . especially when you consider that they would be mothballed for 85% of the time . . . but they still need maintenance, and taxing so that they are ready to use at the drop of a hat.

And our council is being asked to save 35million from it's budget this year (Which is around 1000 jobs from the 3500 in the council, in addition to service cuts) . . . . Go out and buy a fleet of Ploughs, Blowers, and Gritters. That would be a popular decision

This year our guys have worked really well, and kept all the main roads open, the side roads still have packed ice on them, but it's not too difficult to get to a main road . . . And I also get over to the stables on rural roads (one of which isn't gritted) with no issues . . . What's been good is that the idiots that can't drive in snow and ice have kept off the roads this time, making it easier for those of us that can.

 

[paulpj26]

Apart from the last 3 years the last time we had snow this bad in Huddersfield was about 14 years ago. So I agree it would be a waste of money ploughing (no pun intended ) millions of pounds into keeping our roads clear when to fair I think they are doing a good job as it is. I think it is just one of those things we will have to grin and bear it, chances are we probably won't have snow like this for another 10 years!

 

[Baz Chaz]

It not only us ........

More than 1,000 flights at Germany's main airports in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin were cancelled and many more delayed after up to 40 cm (16 inches) of fresh snow blanketed the country. Some 500 stranded passengers slept on cots at Frankfurt airport.

Airlines advised passengers to switch to trains if possible after the new snow added to two week's worth of accumulation but rail operator Deutsche Bahn, struggling to cope with packed trains and a crush of passengers, urged passengers to stay home.

Tempers flared as Germans accustomed to timely trains and planes were forced to wait in freezing stations or packed terminals, and the unusually heavy snow delayed millions of commuters

The motorways in Belgium have also been shut recently :shock: so not just us eh :!:

 

[Springer]

Looks like most have a realistic view here. :)
As mentioned its doesn't happen very often and it would be very expensive to tool up, to cope with the odd extremes. Fed up of hearing "Other countries cope"Yes, if it snows for weeks on end you can have a strategy for dealing with the problems.
Gritting is not a magic process, you just don't do it and thats it !. Once one vehicle gets stuck the snarl up starts and its difficult to get gritters to problem spots.
Last time it snowed properly in this area 1989 I believe, there were excavators digging out roads and then they were ploughed and gritted. Those were the days.............these young uns don't know what snow it :lol: Wasn't around in 1947 mind !
S

 

[SIRUSKEY]

The council are doing ok round near me (Saddleworth). The main problem is people wont help themselves, or each other. Some people are just dam lazy :nono: . We live in a small col-de-sac in a semi rural area. Every time the snow comes down me and two other fellas dig the whole road out and then grit it all. It takes us 3 hours. Now there are only about 20 house and if everyone came out it would take half an hour. It makes me bloody sick. We had to send some old boy back in who was trying to dig his path out. He must be 80yrs old in -5oC.

To make it worse I have a 4x4 so I dont care if the roads clear! :wha:

 

[Aleman]

I have a 4x4 so I dont care if the roads clear! :wha:

Hmm . . . In three days I have seen four 4x4 vehicles in the ditches . . . and half way up a hedge ( :wha: ) on the roads that I have no issue driving on with my Nubira Estate. . . I guess no one told these Yummy Mummies when they bought their Rich ******* Shopping Trollies, that fitting them with road tires does not turn them into Ari Vaatenen :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[graysalchemy]

I have a 4x4 so I dont care if the roads clear! :wha:

Hmm . . . In three days I have seen four 4x4 vehicles in the ditches . . . and half way up a hedge ( :wha: ) on the roads that I have no issue driving on with my Nubira Estate. . . I guess no one told these Yummy Mummies when they bought their Rich ******* Shopping Trollies, that fitting them with road tires does not turn them into Ari Vaatenen :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have said that before also on here when I served time on the west coast of Scotland when it snowed the first vehicles in ditches were 4x4's mind you that may have had something also to do with 'Scotch Mist' and a lack of Highland constabulary. :lol: :lol:

 

[SIRUSKEY]

Slowly, slowly catchy monkey :thumb:

As I tell the Mrs take it easy and you can get anywhere. Unless your getting stuck then floor it :wha: .

 

[Mark1964]

Our council are absolutely crap only seen 1 gritter in the whole time since the snow arrived !!!! :evil: