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Motoring news

Government demands further salt rationing

13/01/2010

UK roads are being subjected to further salt rationing, as stocks run low in the face of continuing icy weather.

The Government directive, which will see gritting cut by up to 50%, follows Monday's announcement in Parliament that the Highways Agency and local authorities across the UK would reduce daily use by a quarter, in a bid to cope with extended freezing conditions.

Now the agency, which looks after the motorway and trunk road network, has said that it will implement the cutbacks through a range of measures, including a 50% reduction in salt treatment when ploughing snow, along with not treating the hard shoulder of major routes. Exceptions to this are where the hard shoulder is used as a running lane, such as on sections of the M6 and M42.

The action follows the Government's intervention last week, when it convened a 'Salt Cell' to direct grit supplies to the areas of the country most in need.

However, in a statement read to Parliament, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said that local authorities would be left to make their own decisions on which roads to prioritise.

Yesterday the Local Government Association (LGA) acknowledged that "tough decisions" would have to be made to ensure that main routes are kept open, allowing drivers access to hospitals, schools and food shopping as the wintry conditions continue.

Councillor David Sparks, chair of the LGA's transport and regeneration board, said: "The whole country is seeing the worst cold weather in 30 years and we need to work together to conserve salt stocks.

"The safety of the travelling public is vitally important and this will be reflected in the measures councils take to conserve salt."

Meanwhile, the country is facing up to an epidemic of potholes, which have begun to open up as some areas thaw out.

Damage from the so-called 'freeze-thaw' cycle - where water which has made its way into cracks expands as it freezes, leaving behind a weakened road surface when it melts - could be more likely on roads that are already in a poor state of repair, according to Institute of Civil Engineers vice president Geoff French.

He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that the Government should address the spate of potholes in the light of the recent weather.

"Roads are being used more and more intensively as time goes on, so roads are a vital asset that need to be treated as such and carefully maintained," French added.