Council says wasting grit 'is not necessarily a bad thing'

The pile of grit left in the road

A gritter out treating the roads of Rochdale last night (Sunday 14 November 2010) left behind a pile of salt in the road as it continued to spread whilst stationary at traffic lights.

The grit wagon was stopped at the traffic lights on Manchester Road at the junction of Roch Valley Way at about 10.45pm and continued to spout grit into a heap on the road.

In its winter maintenance review presented to councillors last week, Rochdale Borough Council stated it has increased its stockpiles of salt from six days worth to ten days worth, which equates to 4000 tonnes, however, there is concern that leaving the salt pouring whilst stationary at traffic lights could lead to significant waste.

A spokesperson for Impact Partnership, who manage highways services on behalf of Rochdale Borough Council said: "The gritting team have seen this themselves and believe the amount of grit laid at the traffic lights in question to have been a shovelful at most.

"The gritting operation is powered by the motion of the vehicle, but when the vehicle stops, the gritting may take a little while longer to stop as well.

"It is not necessarily a bad thing for extra grit to be laid at traffic lights as it can help cars to grip the road as they pull away."

The member of the public who brought this to attention replied: "The grit pile was significantly more than a shovel load - as can be seen in the photo. The wagon continued to pour grit all the time it was stationary at the traffic lights. The pile was large enough to cause cars to drive around it when the lights changed to green.

"If this happens at every set of traffic lights it will add up to a lot of waste.

"I think Impact Partnership's response is sadly typical of the arrogance they exhibit; the odds are there is a fault with the vehicle that needs fixing but rather than acknowledge that they seek instead to try and suggest there is no problem."