Why arnt they gritting the bus routes ?

[Westdene Seagull]

Where do you think the gritter drivers live? In some special underground bunker that isnt affected by weather? Why dont you think the busses can get on some of their routes? Incase no-one has ever seen the gritters the grit comes out the BACK of them and doesnt melt the ice instantly. What do the gritters drive on then? Is it not the same roads as the busses?

** cough ** Snowchains ? ** cough **

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Where do you think the gritter drivers live? In some special underground bunker that isnt affected by weather?

In little caves down the grit mines.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I am amazed at the fact that there is still ice all over the road and pavement outside the entrance to the Church Street car park.

Kings Place is one of the main pedestrian accesses to Brighton's city centre shops. This afternoon, 60 hours after the snowfall, it was impossible to walk this route into North Street without encountering a barrier of lethal ice. I saw a man with a previously broken leg (already in plaster) struggling on crutches, trying to get out of the car park. He almost fell over, TWICE.

All that is needed is for SOMEONE to take control of the situation and clear a safe walking route. Whether that is the council, the manager of the car park, someone from Barclays Bank or the city centre traders' association doesn't matter.

Isn't there a City Centre Manager? Er ... yes. She's called Soozie Campbell and her phone number is 01273 380040, e-mail scampbell@brightonbusiness.co.uk

http://www.brightonbusiness.co.uk/contact_us.htm

I'm not expecting Soozie to get hold of a shovel herself, but surely she can PHONE someone.

 

[beorhthelm]

im thinking the ice is a bit unusual because of the weather we had since. its actually worse out today than yesturday and certinaly Friday. the snow has melted, spread and refroze.

as for your gritting probs down in Brighton, i can only assume they've royally screwed it/ dont want to pay the overtime. gritters out on back streets in Sutton.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

To be fair though, there was about a week's warning of when the snow would hit. Even to the exact HOUR i.e. 9pm Thursday night. And the council and therefore the gritters know exactly what the bus routes are. Even to the exact ROADS. Shouldn't have been as bad a problem as its become IMHO.

When I worked for the council (in a highways department), there was something called the Winter Maintenance Plan. From time to time (usually in the summer), it was reviewed and the list of priority roads for gritting was updated. Bus routes figures very high in the priorities - not all routes equally, but the main, high volume routes first and the lighter-used routes further down the list. There was an early-warning system in place to identify likely frost-events and a procedure for calling out the workforce at short notice. There was a budget for gritting - and, in good years, this was invariably underspent. And the team responsible for gritting had a tremendous sense of pride in getting their job well done.

On the evidence of this weekend, I can only conclude that things are done differently these days - although they claim otherwise (see below).

gritting - Brighton Hove City Council

gritting roads - Brighton Hove City Council

What the city council does

Our team of Winter Maintenance Duty Officers in the Highways section use the latest technology in weather forecasting/prediction to decide what is required to protect road users during poor weather. We will assess the weather forecast for a 24-hour period combined with road temperature sensor data information in order to decide what action is necessary. Our main priority is to keep major routes treated and passable. These are generally all 'A' roads, most 'B' roads and other roads of local importance, eg bus routes. A total of 156 miles of main routes will be treated if weather conditions require it.

During periods of prolonged heavy snowfall pavements are cleared in priority order - main shopping areas and pedestrian routes first, followed by other important pavements and local shopping areas. This work will only be undertaken after the main carriageway routes have been cleared, due to resources.

We have duty officers on standby out of office hours, at weekends and during holiday periods, who will act in the event of an emergency.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Also posted in 'No Community'.

Cleared my shared drive on Friday (no help from neighbour), easy job.

Tried to clear pavement outside my house today. Ba****d job! All iced up, threw loads of salt at it.....still a ba****d job. Eventually cleared one third of the pavement's width, meticuously, moving broken snow and ice onto the remainder to create a rough surface. Bloody hard work.

In New York it is a byelaw to clear the pavement outside your home, so it should be here. Obvious exceptions would be elderly, disabled and arrangements made for shared properties.

As to being sued if someone slips on a badly cleared area, then we need to change the law, f**king ambulance chasers etc.!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Funnily enough I do work for the council but I have nothing to do with the road gritting people, nor do I acctually give a shit about them.

What annoys me is that people just assume everything will be sorted and that the icy conditions dont affect the council.

How many people on here have said that their roads are un-drivable or the roads cant handle busses?

Where do you think the gritter drivers live? In some special underground bunker that isnt affected by weather? Why dont you think the busses can get on some of their routes? Incase no-one has ever seen the gritters the grit comes out the BACK of them and doesnt melt the ice instantly. What do the gritters drive on then? Is it not the same roads as the busses?

If half the people on here put half as much effort into gettng out and about and clearing some of their roads as they do moaning then we wouldnt be having such a big problem!!!

It is SAFE to go outside, you just have to be sensible! I have done EXACTLY the same things in the last 3 days as I would have done anyway apart from not playing Football. Ive got to work, Ive been out with friends, Ive been shopping, Ive driven to Haywards Heath and back. All you have to do is be SENSIBLE and not stupid, take the right precautions etc...

I dont think anyone is expecting the streets and roads to be perfect but equally I do not think for one minute the council have done the best they could. In fact far from it.

I'm fit and healthy and I'm finding parts of Brighton and Hove difficult to navigate. I dread to think what it must be like for the elderly or bods with mobility problems. The council seem to brag about their bad weather plans on their website....I've seen little evidence this weekend.

 

[mistahclarke]

Too true. Compton Ave is like an ice rink. The pavements around here are lethal.

and all the local shops are out of salt.

 

[WATFORD zero]

It looks to me as if nothing has happened on clearing the roads since Friday.

If I can pay the staff extra to come in and clear the driveway on Saturday morning, I can't see why the council can't

 

[portslade seagull]

I think its a disgrace...the council charge us more than enough with the council tax and they've hardly lifted a finger to clear the most used routes or local shopping areas...

 

[ali jenkins]

I think its a disgrace...the council charge us more than enough with the council tax and they've hardly lifted a finger to clear the most used routes or local shopping areas...

The major roads are fine, they have ben since Friday morning!

 

[Westdene Seagull]

The major roads are fine, they have ben since Friday morning!

The council still haven't cleared the bus routes in Hangleton though !!!! Absolutely useless

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Going stir crazy at home now.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

In New York it is a byelaw to clear the pavement outside your home, so it should be here.

Manhattan had about 8” of snow Saturday night. By next morning most of that had been cleared off the sidewalks. The gritters out here also deliver the grit at the front of the vehicle which seems to work better as it gives the gritter traction so it doesn’t end up in the ditch like you sometimes see in the UK.

 

[Springal]

had to go over to Uckfield on Saturday and the roads were pretty bad still, which is fair enough as it is a bit back and beyond, but the high street was just thick sheets of ice, a few shops had shovelled the ice off, but why the council could not sort something was disgraceful, especially on what is one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year !

 

[Easy 10]

I nearly did the splits in Boundary Road on Saturday. No sign of the council GRITTER there, thats for sure.

 

[Husty]

how much money are you expecting the council to spend on gritting? they are meant to be slashing how much they spend annually yet when they cut down on something that affects us all minimally for a few days and suddenly they have to get their act together?
it is a bit of ice, enjoy the days off work and you can always go xmas shopping once it thaws

 

[Easy 10]

how much money are you expecting the council to spend on gritting? they are meant to be slashing how much they spend annually yet when they cut down on something that affects us all minimally for a few days and suddenly they have to get their act together?
it is a bit of ice, enjoy the days off work and you can always go xmas shopping once it thaws

You'd expect them to have the basic services covered though, when needed, aye ? Being as I'm paying them the thick end of £1500 a year. And it inevitably goes up above the rate if inflation EVERY year, with next year being no exception, no doubt.
Oh, I keep forgetting. It mainly goes towards their PENSIONS these days, doesn't it.

 

[Spiros]

I know that in Worthing the council have had to cut back on spending in just about every area to pay for all of the free OAP bus passes, as they've been sold short by central government over it. I assume that would include any money on staff and gritt for clearing and making safe the pavements

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Buses have started running again to lower bev. Somewhat strange as I doubt many will want to go out tonight.

Hopefully will be ok for the morning.