Only vital routes to get cover in council's winter weather plan

By TONY GALVIN AN emergency winter plan designed to keep the county's main routes open in the event of a repeat of last year's big freeze, has been unveiled by Galway Co Council. The council has prioritised 660km of roads which they feel are vital to keep open to allow emergency services, work crews and fuel trucks to operate and maintain links between the main centres of population. Links to hospitals, transport hubs, and major industries will get top priority. These routes the council pledges to keep open at all costs. [private] However, a top official has stated that if the HSE wants access to all areas then they will have to provide their own fleet of 4x4s as the council doesn't have the resources to provide this level of cover. When these routes are secured the plan entails a graded rollout of work to make as many other routes as possible passable. However, when the Winter Service Plan was unveiled at a meeting of Galway Co Council at County Hall on Monday, many councillors representing rural areas expressed unhappiness and there were claims that people living in more isolated areas were being abandoned and left to fend for themselves. The plan's Priority One routes basically radiate out from Galway City. The N17 will be kept open as far as the Mayo border. So will the Headford road as will the Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Clifden and Portumna connections. The council will have 12 trucks, 12 gritters and nine snow ploughs at the ready, plus support vehicles, and are guaranteeing they can keep all priority routes open in the event of severe winter conditions again this year. Director of Services for Roads and Transportation, Frank Gilmore, said that if they guaranteed a route as priority one, they would stand over it. However he was forthright to the point of bluntness with the members who were unhappy with the plan. He explained that the aim of the emergency plan was not to convenience motorists along every boreen in the county, but to insure vital arteries were kept open, which would allow for the transportation of vital services such as fuel, food, emergency service vehicles around the county and to keep the routes open for medical emergencies. When members protested over areas of the county which could be cut off under this plan, Frank Gilmore said he would need five times the staff he had available and to blow the maintenance budget for the year and would still not be confident the council could meet the expectations of the members. However, he pointed out that in the plan there were four priority categories and when priority one routes were satisfactorily dealt with the focus would move on to Priority Two route and so on. Winter Service Plan The N17 will be kept open from the Mayo boundary to the Galway city boundary at the Roadstone complex. The Tuam-Dunmore-Cloonfad (N83) route to the Mayo border is also a Priority One route. The N63 Roscommon Road from Loughgeorge to the Roscommon border, plus the R365 connection to Mountbellew is on the priority list and so is Tuam to Horseleap Cross, connecting with the N63. The N18 from Claregalway to Gort and the M18 motorway to the Clare border at Crusheen are on the list.   Also included are: â€Â¢ The R339 Briarhill junction via Monivea as far as Menlough. â€Â¢ The R360 Dunmore to Ballymoe road. â€Â¢ The R334 road from Headford to the Mayo boundary The former N6, now the R446, will be kept open along a 50km stretch between Ballinasloe and Kilmeen junction. A route will be kept open from Portumna in the south connecting with Loughrea and Galway City. The Loughrea to Gort route is also a Priority One. West of the city, the two Connemara routes are the R336 out to Leitirmoir and the N59 from the city out via Oughterard, Clifden and around to Leenane and the Mayo border. â€Â¢ Priority Two routes are strategically important regional roads and will be dealt with once Priority One routes are cleared. The council does not guarantee treatment of these roads. â€Â¢ Priority Three routes are local roads and will only get treatment once 1 & 2 are cleared. â€Â¢ Priority Four routes are local roads and footpaths and will not be considered for treatment except in severe or prolonged winter weather and then only when resources are available. [/private]