VOTE: Town’s winter road gritting under review
11:40am Saturday 16th May 2009 in News
A REVIEW of how Bolton’s roads are gritted in the winter months has been launched.
It comes after the local authority came in for criticism when snowfalls brought the town to a virtual standstill, crippling the road network.
Bolton Council is asking for the views of residents and road users to be fed into the review, which is being carried out by a winter gritting panel, made up of councillors from the environmental services scrutiny committee.
There are currently 25 gritting routes totalling 430km of road, and around 30 to 40 tonnes of salt are used each time the routes are gritted.
Last winter — during which the region experienced some of the worst snow for 20 years — the operation cost the council more than £300,000 over budget. The authority now wants to ensure it is not caught short should there be a repeat of the freak weather conditions this winter.
Cllr Ismail Ibrahim, Bolton Council’s Executive member for environmental services, said: “We want to know what the public see as priorities before we put together our next winter gritting scheme. We do grit around half of our total road network, which is more than a lot of other local authorities.”
Liberal Democrat Cllr David Wilkinson called for a review in December and said he was pleased people in Bolton would be part of it.
Cllr Wilkinson, who sits on the winter gritting panel, said: “We have learned a lot so far in terms of the work that goes into the gritting operation and I am delighted that people who use the roads will also get their say.” The winter gritting panel, which is meeting again on Thursday, has already consulted the council’s gritting teams and representatives from the salt industry.
The public survey is available online at bolton.gov.uk/wintergritting or by calling the consultation and research team on 01204 332012. The closing date for feedback is Friday, June 13.
andrew.greaves@theboltonnews.co.uk
