Councils coping with snow

[Dane End Dolly]

Everyone has been screaming about their councils not gritting the roads properly over the past couple of days, now i am going to do the opposite and actually give some praise.......i know not normally me but here goes.

East Herts Coucil you are brilliant. Driving on the A602 at 6pm approx 5mph (scared sh..less), what do i see not a gritting lorry but a SNOW PLOUGH oh god the road was brill and you were fab to have that out on what would have been a treacherous road, and to top it off, on the way to work at 6.30am this morning I saw one AGAIN on the same road, going up the other side.

Credit where credit is due, gold star for East Herts Council

[RedThorn]

Same council same thoughts here

[zazen999]

Different council; but I heard on 5live that there were queues of trucks outside the North West Salt mine.

Now, I'm not being funny; but I knew as long ago as the summer that winter would eventually come; so it always gets me when they run out of salt.

I mean, they have all year to mine and store it; so what's the problem?

[OllieMartin]

Awwww, this thread's so positive and all I have is gripes

I can't say a lot about our council, they've been okay. The gripe is over work. Instead of spreading salt around the car park, they just dumped a small shovel full of salt behind each car tyre assuming that the cars would distribute it. Of course they haven't. They also didn't consider the long sloping footpath down from the car park which is murder, especially as most smart work shoes aren't made to navigate arctic tundra.

Oh well, I've survived, and I do love snow anyway it makes a nice change

[HayleyB]

Snowplough Gritters what are they then

[Dane End Dolly]

Snowplough Gritters what are they then

your just jealous coz your missing out..

in this weather nothing better than sitting behind a snow plough i can tell you!!!

[Two_Sheds]

Congratulate them direct, with this: :: Community Fix :: Helping to keep your community clean & safe

[Two_Sheds]

They also didn't consider the long sloping footpath down from the car park

Footpaths don't get considered at all, do they?

I've been out 2 days running with a small child, and he's been T over A more times than I could count


Yes! Some people ! Still walk !

[shoreham_steve]

In Brighton, the roads are pretty clear but the pavements are lethal.

[HeyWayne]

Apparently Sheffield has been really good - so LadyWayne's parents' have told me.

Round here has been the exact opposite. I've yet to see a gritter and I've never seen a snow plough - ever.

I'm preparing myself for another butt-clencher of a journey home tonight.

[lynda66]

i've been to hospital most of the day ... funny but i got there early went straight in, then she sent me to 4 other places that normally have queues and there was no one there lol ... everyone cancelled their appointments cos of the snow .... thankfully the staff got in, so i had a very pleasant day, topped off with a snowball fight at the bus stop with a random small child lol ... basically all our roads are either solid with snow, or totally slushed ... no snow ploughs of gritters seen. .... the footpaths .... yuk..... and my road ... well still all white and pretty lol

[Flummery]

We are regularly gritted - they even chuck it so far and wide it defrosts the pavement on the main street! Can't complain (so I won't!)

[sewer rat]

Well, living this far north you would expect Highland Council and Transerv (the latter being responsible for the main trunk roads (A9, A82, A96) to roll into action like a well oiled machine but yet again, even after fierce criticism last winter, and untold promises about being prepared for this year, they have quite simply not been up to the task.
I am not blaming the guys on the wagons or our local council bods, as the pavements are done, but the roads are shocking - when will the manangement (based cosily in Inverness) realise that as the public transport network is so inadequate up here, almost everything is dependent on the road network. The bus network refused to go out this morning until the roads were gritted - promises made, buses out - no gritters ! Just within a ten mile radius of my town, I could list loads of roads that are if not impassable, then downright treacherous - I did not enjoy the three hours I spent delivering Christmas trees this evening.

[Peter]

Credit where credit is due, gold star for East Herts Council

Dolly and RedThorn you are praising a District Council that actually does NOTHING WHATSOEVER on roads anywhere, all road works, including gritting, in this area are the responsibility of Hertfordshire County Council.

EHDC relinquished all highways responsibility back to HCC in the 90's while I was working for EHDC.

Plus having been held up for the best part of three hours on Monday night by roads that had not been gritted, A10 and A120 I would disagree about thw work done as well. In the end I took to ungritted and untravelled back lanes in my Land Rover to get home.

[SarzWix]

Perhaps we should all stop expecting miracles in road clearing and prepare to either a) stay home, or b) use our own initiative? Snow tyres, snow chains, snow shoes, ice-cleats. All readily available, and utilised every winter in places where this sort of weather is common-place...

Outdoor Gear for Camping & Hiking - Blacktoe Ltd. for snow shoes/ice cleats.