Council ready for winter

Freezing temperatures are expected across the country but Tipperary Co Council is prepared with a winter road maintenance plan in place.

The council has three salt storage barns – one located just outside Nenagh – with a total capacity of around 2,700 tonnes. This, the authority says, is sufficient to deal with a five-day snow event.

Winter maintenance of roads in Tipperary will be categorised over three priorities. First priority will be given to the motorways along with regional roads of strategic importance, for example expressway bus routes, accesses to train and bus depots, hospitals, ambulance routes and fire stations.

Second priority will be given to regional roads with a high volume of traffic, as well as accesses to major schools and industries. Priority 3 will comprise other regional roads, town streets and local county roads.

“In extreme weather events, Priority 1 routes will take precedence over Priority 2 routes in terms of allocation of available resources,” the council advises.
Eleven crews are rostered to treat Tipperary's Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes with salt before the onset of icy conditions. These spreaders can have snowblades fitted in the event of snow. Where there is a variance in road temperatures, it may be the case that not all routes will be pre-treated.

The council is appealing to drivers to take heed of dangerous road conditions such as black ice, white frost, snow, flooding, dirt or any other hazards. “Tipperary County Council is not responsible for any accidents that may occur as a result of poor driving conditions,” the local authority states.

A schedule of roads for salt treatment is available on the council's website.