IRISH COMPANIES will import 14,500 tonnes of salt and grit this week in an effort to address a shortage which is prompting local authorities to limit road gritting.
Cavan, Leitrim, Meath and Fingal county councils warned yesterday they only had enough salt to grit national routes, leaving many local and regional roads untreated. Many local authorities are now gritting once a day rather than twice a day, which is more typical in icy conditions.
The freezing weather and restrictions on salt and gritting activities have added to the difficulties faced by commuters returning to work after the holiday period.
“We are hemmed in here. There has been no gritting here since Friday,” said Nick Killian, a local councillor in Ratoath, Meath. “There were no buses here today because the roads were too icy and this morning trucks and lorries could not get on to the main road, it was gridlock here.”
Meath County Council said the supply of salt over the past three weeks has been critical. “The council has been forced to send trucks to the country’s only salt mine in Co Antrim to collect salt on a number of days over Christmas,” said a council spokesman. “The mine has experienced difficulty in meeting demand due to the severity of the weather and its normal stockpile has been exhausted.”
A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council said it is now prioritising national primary routes and access roads to Dublin airport, which would be gritted once a day. She also rejected claims the council had not done enough to prepare for the cold weather.
“This is an issue of access to salt. It is not a question of manpower or money,” she said.
Cavan County Council said it was suffering a shortage of grit and had now restricted gritting activities to national primary and secondary roads. “We got a delivery today but there is uncertainty due to the forecast of more freezing weather,” said a council spokesman.
The National Roads Authority, which has been working with local authorities to help them keep national routes open, said a shipment of 4,000 tonnes of salt arrived yesterday at Cork port and imports totalling 14,500 tonnes were expected this week.
Roads authority spokesman Seán O’Neill said there are “satisfactory” levels of salt and grit to treat Ireland’s mains roads as the cold spell continues. But . . . the Republic was competing for new supplies with Northern Ireland, Britain, Wales and Scotland.
“On an annual basis about 50,000 to 60,000 [tonnes] of grit and salt are used on national routes and about two-thirds of that supply has been used up already,” said Mr O’Neill.
Dublin City Council said it had enough supplies of grit and salt for a week and it was expecting to receive further supplies from Northern Ireland.
A council spokesman said its seven gritting trucks were focusing on main roads and bus routes.
We are disbursing 100 tonnes of grit on 300km (186 miles) of road per night, he said. So far this winter we have disbursed 950 tonnes of grit and salt. Last year we used 860 tonnes, he added.
Pressure on grit and salt supplies is expected to continue as long as the cold spell continues.
Met Éireann predicts the freezing temperatures will continue for at least a week with more snow forecast.