Redbridge residents were made to suffer during February from the lack of effective preparatory work by our Highways team. As a National Grit Stock crises resulted in priority deliveries being made to the National Highways Agency for the safe maintenance of UK Motorways, local councils up and down the country were helpless as demands for salt stock were regularly being rejected.
I made a request for information on where grit resources were being allocated locally and was advised that primary routes, bus routes, specific vulnerable locations and other side roads had predefined; such that no home is more than 500 metres from a treated route, I was also informed that generally they do not treat footways but do attend to areas of high footfall such as town centres and schools etc. Meanwhile motorists and pedestrians alike were putting their lives at risk trying to awaken a sleeping economy suffering from the impact of global recession and the economic standstill that freak weather conditions naturally induce.
Judging by the more rigorous response to the winter snowfall in Barking and Dagenham, I would surmise that the additional equipment and staff resourced by LBBD has proved worthwhile. In Redbridge pavement areas around schools, colleges, supposedly safe crossings, bus stops and other high footfall regions became treacherous, posing a real threat to the safety of vulnerable groups such as children, the aged and disabled communities. At one particular zebra crossing on Green Lane (a main arterial route, and gateway to the east of England) a particularly dangerous icy decline into the road led to a wash of black ice that threatened to cause the sliding of users of the crossing into the path of moving traffic. Moreover, I am flabbergasted at the failure of Redbridges Highway team to grit around Chadwell Primary school on the High Road, which placed children and their parents at risk and is a contravention of the council’s own gritting policy?! At the time of the snow, I regrettably had to advise local residents with any form of physical impediment - preventing confident travel, to seek assistance when traveling or to wait for the ice to thaw.
I raised this concern with the Area 6 and they have asked for a response from the Highways team which I shall inform you of in due course. In the meanwhile I advise that it has been confirmed that the High Footfall area around Chadwell Heath High Road (especially around Chadwell Heath primary School) will not be overlooked in future.
Source: click.
I made a request for information on where grit resources were being allocated locally and was advised that primary routes, bus routes, specific vulnerable locations and other side roads had predefined; such that no home is more than 500 metres from a treated route, I was also informed that generally they do not treat footways but do attend to areas of high footfall such as town centres and schools etc. Meanwhile motorists and pedestrians alike were putting their lives at risk trying to awaken a sleeping economy suffering from the impact of global recession and the economic standstill that freak weather conditions naturally induce.
Judging by the more rigorous response to the winter snowfall in Barking and Dagenham, I would surmise that the additional equipment and staff resourced by LBBD has proved worthwhile. In Redbridge pavement areas around schools, colleges, supposedly safe crossings, bus stops and other high footfall regions became treacherous, posing a real threat to the safety of vulnerable groups such as children, the aged and disabled communities. At one particular zebra crossing on Green Lane (a main arterial route, and gateway to the east of England) a particularly dangerous icy decline into the road led to a wash of black ice that threatened to cause the sliding of users of the crossing into the path of moving traffic. Moreover, I am flabbergasted at the failure of Redbridges Highway team to grit around Chadwell Primary school on the High Road, which placed children and their parents at risk and is a contravention of the council’s own gritting policy?! At the time of the snow, I regrettably had to advise local residents with any form of physical impediment - preventing confident travel, to seek assistance when traveling or to wait for the ice to thaw.
I raised this concern with the Area 6 and they have asked for a response from the Highways team which I shall inform you of in due course. In the meanwhile I advise that it has been confirmed that the High Footfall area around Chadwell Heath High Road (especially around Chadwell Heath primary School) will not be overlooked in future.
Source: click.
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