Call for Moray road to be higher priority for gritters
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MORAY Council is being pressed to upgrade one local road to top priority in its gritting schedule.
Local MP Douglas Ross has claimed the C13E Dallas to Knockando road should be reinstated as a priority gritting route after local concern over icy conditions prompted some residents to start a petition. The petition, started three weeks ago on change.org, has been signed by 350 people to date.
Moray Council said the C13E was the first priority two road to be gritted after all priority one routes had been covered.
Conservative Mr Ross said: "Local residents have set up a petition to try to persuade Moray Council to reinstate this road as a priority one route because of their concern about the condition of it in the winter months.
"The road is well used by commuters and parents of schoolchildren and also school transport – but it apparently no longer qualifies as a priority one gritting route.
"Having spoken to drivers of this route, they claim a serious road collision could happen at any point on this road unless the gritting policy is reviewed. During December last year, a number of vehicles left the road due to the adverse weather conditions.
Mr Ross has contacted the council's chief executive Roddy Burns, asking for a review of the classification of the gritting policy for the road.
He added: "While the weather has so far been pretty mild this winter, there are still several months when adverse and icy conditions can affect the roads so I hope the council will review this request as a priority."
A council spokesperson said: "We’re responsible for maintaining a road network of more than 900 miles, and we can’t grit every location at the same time, so we categorise routes by priority. Councillors took a decision in February 2019 to downgrade the priority of the Dallas to Knockando route from priority one to priority two.
"Priority two routes are secondary routes between small communities, or routes within larger communities, and are gritted after the completion of priority one routes in periods of heavy or prolonged wintry conditions.
"Specifically, the Dallas to Knockando route is the first priority two route to be completed in such conditions."
