Grit Piles in Rural Roads...or not?

butterflymum

Assume Roads department are attempting, as everyone is, to save money, but sometimes this is a false economy.

Local roads department (in County Antrim) today, when asked if they would be replenishing our grit piles as none had been left when the lorry was seen in area earlier, advised that there is a 'new directive, and grit piles will only be left at junctions'.

Now, the main rural road we use daily to get the children to and from school, I am sure like a great deal of other ones, is steep and some sections have high embankments, so no chance of quick thaw. Usually there are grit piles at several key places (bends, especially steep sections, etc), which are utilised by locals to help the situation, but apparently these will not be provided this year.

Have any other MSE'rs heard of this directive? I recall some areas in NI having similar last year, before councillors intervened. In the following link, I can see no mention of the 'at junctions only' directive:

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/qanda/2011mandate/writtenans/2011/111021.htm

"... salt bins or grit piles may be provided for use by the public, on a self help basis, on other routes adopted or maintained by Roads Service, which do not qualify for inclusion onto the gritting schedule. Roads Service currently provides approximately 4,200 salt bins and almost 40,000 grit piles on public roads....."


but maybe there is one documented elsewhere online that I have missed?

I can see some of the following mentioned in the 'NI Road Safety Strategy to 2020" document:

"...Northern Ireland’s road safety vision is:‘To make a journey on Northern Ireland’s roads as safe for all road users as anywhere in
the world’.."

"....Focusing specifically on improving safety on rural roads..."

thetope

I dont know if that is the case but I noted recently that a road I regularly travel on which is both steep and windy has recently had grit piles placed on it at roughly 50m intervals in advance of the cold weather (not just at junctions).

Blackfort

During the past two winters when temperatures plummeted I found that the grit piles had frozen solid and couldn't be shifted even with a spade. Another issue we have in my area is people loading the piles onto their trailer and taking it home to use around their house. Mostly a waste of time having them but better than nothing I suppose.