Mayo is gritting twice as many roads as Galway, says council official
Mr Dolan said Mayo County Council cannot extend its gritting runs.
Several Mayo councillors have voiced their frustration at the current plan for gritting roads in the county.
The cold snap in early December saw many of Mayo’s roads covered in ice and councillors voiced their annoyance at Mayo Co Council's Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) for roads.
Cllr Seamus Weir said councillors were not looking to have every road gritted but had a list of specific roads that needed attention. As an example, Cllr Annie Mae Reape cited the Church Road in Ballina which she described as "crucial" but not in the current gritting plan.
Cllr Damien Ryan said there are locations at schools in each of the municipal districts that are not on the plan, adding that councillors could work with engineers at a local level to ensure supply.
The council's Head of Roads Paul Dolan said the current plan in Mayo provides for the gritting of 400km of national primary roads and 951km of regional roads, totalling 1,351km, while Galway just 623km of roads were gritted. Mr Dolan said there currently isn’t enough money to cover the existing plan, adding that €1.4 million was spent on roads last year and the budget was €904,000, with the extra money coming as a one-off payment from the Department of Transport. Mr Dolan confirmed he was adding extra money into the winter services plan.
“We grit more roads in Mayo than any other county in the country. We cannot extend the gritting runs. We have a fixed number of gritters” said Mr Dolan, who added that without additional money, they cannot extend the runs.
