Ungritted roads - Preparation is essential

WITH severe weather conditions set to run for the next few days, the ongoing failure to spread grit on treacherous secondary roads and in housing estates has been a damning comment on the local authorities.

Nor is it good enough to use the severity of the weather as an excuse. We have heard repeated warnings, not to mention the growing evidence, that severe conditions will be the hallmark of climate change. As a direct result of flooding and plummeting temperatures, local roads are in tatters in some areas. Deep furrows are emerging where rivers and streams broke their banks and tyre-ripping potholes are reappearing where old ones were patched with tarmac.

Despite the fact that Ireland has one of the largest networks of secondary and local roads in Europe, the economic crisis means precious little money is left in council coffers for vital repair work. It should not be beyond the resources of local councils and the National Roads Authority to plan ahead rather than rely on the band-aid approach to ensure that adequate supplies of grit are available to cope with increasingly severe weather conditions. Otherwise, the future promises to be as rocky on the roads as in the economy.