Clare County Council has gritted more than 12,000 kilometres of road utilising over 1,600 tons of salt since in the past ten days since the beginning of the current cold spell on January 1.
Implementing its Winter Maintenance Plan, the local authority gritted more than 770 kilometres of the national secondary and regional road network during each treatment carried out daily both in the early hours of the morning and overnight.
Meanwhile the Motorway Network and National Primary Routes in the county were treated by Transport Infrastructure Ireland through its Maintenance Contractor.
Approximately 80 tons of a pre-wet salt with a brine solution is used per standard treatment by the council’s seven gritters, with this doubling to 160 tons as required during this current cold spell.
Acknowledging the commitment of the council winter maintenance staff over this period Director of Service for Physical Development Clare County Council Alan Farrell said, “Council staff have been working consistently since New Year’s Day from early in the morning until late into the night to ensure that the roads prioritised in our Winter Maintenance Plan were treated, often working in very challenging conditions. Staff will continue this work into the weekend as required, as temperatures remain low in many parts of the county and winter showers make many of our roads treacherous.”
The Director of Service also thanked the Civil Defence who were on the ground assisting the public and other agencies during this period.
Civil Defence Officer Steven Hayes said that 20 of its volunteers work in challenging circumstances to assist the public and other agencies such as the Health Service Executive (HSE) and An Garda Síochána approximately 30 times in the last six days.
“We set up a control room in our Headquarters at the beginning of the month to monitor the weather and the health and safety of our crew. The volunteers were often called upon very early in the morning and late into the night to assist with transporting public health and palliative care nurses to patients around the county, and patients to essential medical appointments. We also provided assistance to the gardaí with a number of incidences including missing persons search operations,” he said.
Clare County Council continues to advise road users to remain vigilant today Friday and into the weekend. Despite the changing weather temperatures, road conditions will be hazardous, even where roads are gritted.
Please slow down, drive with caution, be aware of other road users and allow extra time for your journey.
For updated weather information see met.ie
