AQW 38215/11-15
Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry
Tabled Date: 04/11/2014
Answered On Date: 17/11/2014
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister for Regional Development what his Department is doing to ensure maximum safety on the roads in the winter months, particularly those with difficult topography.
Answer:
My Department is well prepared for the coming winter season. Staffing arrangements are in place, pre-season checks on winter service equipment have been undertaken and salt stocks have been replenished. TransportNI has approximately 300 people on standby ready to salt main roads. Contracts are also in place to enable contractors and farmers to help to clear roads during periods of prolonged snowfall. TransportNI’s winter service policy and procedures, which set out the criteria for the salting of roads, are based on the well-established practice of targeting the limited resources available for this service on the busier main through routes. TransportNI salts main through routes carrying more than 1,500 vehicles per day. In exceptional circumstances, roads with difficult topography carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 vehicles per day will also be salted. The application of this policy ensures that 28% of the total road network, which carries around 80% of traffic, is salted. In addition, small settlements in rural areas containing 100 dwellings or more also have salted links to roads on the main salted network and, priority “secondary” salting is provided to around 50 rural schools that are most affected by the adverse weather conditions. Salting may also be undertaken in urgent situations such as to provide access for the emergency services, unforeseen occurrences such as funerals or to help get fuel or feed stocks to farmers. In addition, approximately 4,800 salt bins and almost 50,000 grit piles are provided on public roads for use by the public on a self-help basis.
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