‘I am calling on Roscommon County Council to include specific routes leading to all schools in the winter maintenance program and salt the public roads within the vicinity of the schools.’

‘I am calling on Roscommon County Council to include specific routes leading to all schools in the winter maintenance program and salt the public roads within the vicinity of the schools.’

The Meetings Administrator read the following reply:

“As part of our commitment to ensuring safe road conditions during winter, Roscommon County Council conducts a thorough review of the Winter Service Plan each year, well in advance of the winter months. The plan is a strategic document designed by Engineers, detailing the optimised deployment of resources to address disruptive winter weather conditions.

Within the plan, two levels of priority routes have been identified:

Priority 1 Routes: These are treated during all-weather events and include national primary roads, national secondary roads, regional and local roads of national strategic importance, and those providing access to essential services.

Priority 2 Routes: These routes are part of normal Winter Service but may experience interruptions in treatment during severe weather events.

It is important to note that any changes to the existing plan, including the addition of school routes, would impact the council's ability to effectively treat Priority routes. The Winter Service Plan represents an optimised allocation of resources and raw materials.

Additionally, the plan is financed through a combination of TII funding and Department of Transport Discretionary Grants. These funds are limited, and any adjustments to the plan would require careful consideration, as expanding winter maintenance coverage could affect funding for other crucial areas such as local roads, verge trimming, drainage, etc.”

Speaking on his motion, Cllr. Fitzmaurice conceded the amount of severe weather affecting the county in recent months had been minimal and acknowledged that many schools are on routes that are gritted. His concern is in relation to the schools that are not including Cloonbonniffe, Lissaniskey, Runnamote and Fairymount which are marginally off the location of winter maintenance routes and have large amounts of traffic on these roads. He stated that Longford County Council all have a salted route to each school and why can Roscommon not be able to do the same. He also stated that Galway Co. Co. provide salt bins near schools and recreational areas.

Cllr. Byrne seconded the motion.

Other members supported the motion and discussed as follows:

·         It was proposed smaller lorries could be used for salting of minor roads where schools are located.

·         Local schools favour the provision of salt bins that could be sourced from the County Council and used by the schools affected.

·         Some discretion should be given to Area Engineers in the salting of roads in local areas which would put less strain on Council resources and vehicles.

·         Costings should be drawn up for salting of local roads to enable members to make an informed decision when considering to salt local roads.

·         If there are excessive stocks of salt, national schools should be attended to for gritting.

·         It was claimed there was 4,000 miles of roads in the county which meant not all routes could be salted and unrealistic to expect gritting vehicles to salt all schools.

·         It was felt priority needed to be given to major routes and that resources should not be taken away from these routes.

·         Cllr. Fitzmaurice said he understood each engineering area has an electric salt gritter and claimed drivers were available, separate to vehicles and manpower used for regional and national roads.

Responding, Acting Director of Services Greg O’Donnell said the focus of the Winter Service Plan was on national primary and secondary routes.

·         Smaller pick-up trucks used for gritting had a one cubic metre capacity to spread salt and would not be suitable for salting outside schools.

·         Eight larger trucks cover all routes for a total road network of 3,500 kms.

·         The provision of salt bins was considered for communities’ last year and if adopted, could be extended for provision to local schools, subject to the availability of resources.

·         Communities were provided with salt on request, subject to availability.

·         He said if expanding the provision of salt to local schools, then the provision of such a service would be a business model.

·         Smaller vehicles were used on a discretionary basis by the Municipal District Co-Ordinators, particularly in public areas in urban areas.

·         He said there weren’t the response times to conceivably salt local schools with a small vehicle capacity.

Responding to the motion raised, the Chief Executive stated that with 4,000 kms of roads in the county it is not feasible to grit all roads. The gritting process is a highly technical one and there are historic reasons why routes are prioritised and cannot be changed. There are also logistical considerations such as the Working Time Directive that impact on hours that worked by lorry drivers. Salt bins are a good option and a resource that could be used outside housing estates and not just outside schools. This is a matter that should be brought to an SPC for a Policy to be agreed.

Concluding the debate, Cllr. Fitzmaurice agreed that the motion be referred to the Roads SPC for a Policy to be formulated and agreed