County Galway is bracing itself for a return of the severe cold weather over the weekend, with forecasts estimating that snowfalls and ice will be more extreme this time around.
Concerns are being expressed as to whether the Galway city and county councils have enough supplies of grit to be able to deal with icy roads and ensure traffic can move safely through the major routes.
A spokesperson for the Galway City Council said it has “sufficient supplies of sand and grit” to deal with the next five to six days of expected cold weather.
Two deliveries of salt were made to City Hall last week and the local authority will be monitoring weather forecasts and temperatures over the coming days.
As temperatures are likely to drop in the coming days, council workers are expected to be out from 5am each morning gritting roads to ensure traffic can proceed safely. National routes will be given top priority, then regional roads, followed by local routes.
As it is not possible for City Hall to deal with all local routes, small roads, and pathways, residents’ associations are being encouraged to sand and grit the roads themselves, with supplies from the council.
The spokesperson also said that during the previous ‘cold snap’, 68 drops of grit, estimated at one tonne each, were distributed to residents’ associations throughout the city.
“Some of those supplies of grit may be left over for residents to use again, but if new supplies are needed, residents associations should contact City Hall,” the spokesperson said.
Independent Galway East TD Noel Grealish has called on the Galway County Council to provide grit and sand at strategic locations around the county to enable local residents to grit minor roads themselves.
“While the County Council keep main roads gritted, it is impossible for them to ensure all minor roads around the county are gritted,” he said, “and a lot of people have offered to help grit local roads if the grit was made available to them.”
Dep Grealish has contacted the county manager Martina Moloney about this and has asked her to organise supplies of grit to be dropped at strategic locations around the county.
“This will help people get to work safely and also ensure that schools are kept open,” he said. “Therefore it is important that secondary roads are gritted so that people can get onto the main roads and get to work from rural locations.”
Further information on road gritting, etc, can be found on the city council’s website, www.galwaycity.ie
