Written evidence from Richard Starling
(TE 03)
If we are to learn from last winter (business experts
predicting the Arctic temperatures could cost Britain's economy
up to £690 million a day), Government now has a major opportunity
to invest to prevent £ billions worth of loss to the
national-economy, by taking a fresh look at winter-roads' management.
Existing methodology must now be reviewed and updated to challenge
and ease the heavy reliance upon reactive & "blanket"
salt-spreading which is currently the main defence against icy
roads and gridlock. The success of this reactive is weakened by
an interdependent sequence of procedures which link Met Office
weather- prediction to the logistic of getting gritting lorries
out & back from centralised-depots. From an environmental-viewpoint,
each winter's salt consumption cannot be recovered. Neither can
the investment.
Of particular influence upon traffic-flows are the
judgement-calls about whether to salt-spread at all. Is priority
given to a control of the cost of spreading, rather than to safer
and open roads? These judgements are made locally, but may inadvertently
worsen traffic management in other parts of the roads' network.
There are no independent-audits of the winter-service performance
of Local Authorities.
I fully understand and appreciate the financial prudency
which models Council highways' winter-service. However, that approach
may cul-de-sac the introduction of more modern methods, and seemed
to contribute to the difficulties seen on last winter's roads.
What I saw, last winter, was a disharmony between highways' authorities,
police and media. Warnings to motorists must be given in a stronger,
simpler, consistent, and more timely manner. The same message
from media sources. Once again, it seemed ok to react to the snow
and ice, rather than to harmonise, prepare and control.
Local Authorities would stand and applaud if the
DfT now took the initiative in this matter. The alternative is
for Central Government to continue with the same old policy-stance,
and add a self-imposed, seasonal pressure to the other challenges
which the economy-faces.
September 2010
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