Effective gritting solution needed for rural roads - McAleer

Sinn Féin MLA Declan McAleer has called on the Roads Minister to work in partnership with the DAERA and Health Ministers to deliver a more effective solution to winter gritting on rural roads.

Mr McAleer said: “I have been inundated with calls recently from people in rural areas regarding the need for more gritting in isolated rural areas.

“Whilst I understand that DFI treat 28% of roads on the primary network carrying 80% of traffic, this statistic masks very serious issues of isolation and health concerns among thousands of rural dwellers who cannot get into or out of their homes or get essential supplies in and out.

“I have been contacted by domiciliary care workers attempting to attend vulnerable people in their homes but unable to get there due to the road conditions.

“I have also been in touch with many farmers in need of feed supplies for their animals and milk collection lorries to access their farms, but have got stuck or delayed by icy and dangerous conditions.”

Mr McAleer continued: “Given the disproportionate impact this issue has in rural areas with widespread health and well-being concerns, I believe that other departments such as DAERA and Health should play a part with DFI Roads to make the gritting operation more effective for isolated areas. I have written to Ministers Mallon, Poots and Swann with this proposal.

“Whilst it is not possible nor desirable to be prescriptive, I do believe that co-operation could take many forms. For instance, DAERA and the Department for Health could contribute financially to DFI to enable them to expand the gritting operation out to more rural roads.

“I believe a more efficient and streamlined approach to recruiting farmers, contractors and community organisations to clear local roads could be achieved to compliment the DFI operation. I also believe that a risk register of vulnerable people should be established to ensure that their roads are on the priority gritting list so that carers and the emergency service can get safe passage to and from peoples homes.”

Mr McAleer concluded: “I commend our frontline DFI Road workers who put themselves at risk night and day to keep traffic moving. However, they need more resources and partnership from other agencies to develop a more comprehensive gritting network to help reduce the risk of isolation among the most vulnerable in our community.”