Q1. Who is responsible for treating the roads and how are the treated routes chosen?
Roscommon County Council provides for Winter Service on the public road network within the County. The purpose of the service is to ensure, in so far as is reasonably practicable, that strategic sections of the road network are kept clear of frost, ice and snow during the winter months. The road network is divided into three priority categories and the level of service provided under each priority category is detailed in Table 1.
Table 1 – Route Selection Guidelines and Target Mobilisation and Treatment Times| Road Priority | Level of Service | Road Selection Guidelines | Mobilisation Time | Treatment Time |
|---|
| Priority 1 | To be treated during all weather events | Motorways, national primary roads, national secondary roads, regional and local roads of national strategic importance, regional and local roads providing access to essential services | 1 hour | 2 hours |
| Priority 2 | To be treated as part of normal Winter Service but may have interruptions to treatment in certain severe weather events | Sections of regional and local roads of regional strategic importance | 1 hour | 4 hours |
| Priority 3 | Not treated as part of normal Winter Service but may receive intermittent treatment during certain severe weather events | Sections of regional and local roads requiring particular attention at specific times (by their nature, these routes cannot be planned in advance and are very much resource dependent) | na | na |
Q2. Exactly which roads are treated?
A County map of Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes should be displayed on the Council Website during the winter season (mid-October to mid-April).
Q3. How are the roads treated?
Winter Service works involve the application of a de-icing agent (typically salt spreading) when frost/ice formation is forecast and snow ploughing when snow accumulation is forecast. County and region specific forecasts are issued daily by Met Éireann to inform the treatment decision process.
Q4: Who pays for the service?
Funding for this service is provided by the National Roads Authority, the Department of Transport and Roscommon County Council.
Q5. Are treated roads always completely safe to drive on?
It should be understood that during an extreme weather event, there could be limitations to the level of service that can be provided and the effectiveness of that service. Therefore, motorists should always drive with additional care when weather conditions are poor. In particular;
- while based on the best technology available, weather forecasting can never be 100 percent accurate;
- snowfall is more difficult to predict and when heavy and widespread snow fall occurs, it will not be possible to simultaneously plough the entire network; roads are ploughed with available resources on a priority basis;
- salt is only effective as a de-icing agent to temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius (or thereabouts); and
- as available resources are limited (trucks, drivers, spreaders, ploughs, salt, etc.), it is necessary to deploy resources on a priority basis.
Q6. Is there enough salt?
Salt is allocated to each Local Authority by the NRA on an annual basis. The allocations generally reflect salt amounts that would be required in a normal winter; however, the NRA has advised that it holds a separate stockpile of salt which would be available for allocation during severe winter conditions. During a severe winter, such as 2011-212, more than double the normal allocation could be required.
Q7. Can communities get involved and help themselves?
Yes; recent legislation allows for responsible community involvement.
Roscommon County Council will make ‘grit’ (crushed stone containing no salt) available to the public free of charge during extreme weather events. Persons wishing to avail of this option should be in a position to collect the material from designated locations and should understand that they would not be working for or acting on behalf of Roscommon County Council.
Subject to availability, Roscommon County Council will make ‘salt’ available to the public at cost price during extreme weather events. Persons wishing to avail of this option should be in a position to collect the material from designated locations and should understand that they would not be working for or acting on behalf of Roscommon County Council.