Winter Road Maintenance: the Facts

From John MacFadyen

My main route is Salen to Kilchoan or vice-versa. I start at 6.00am and normally begin gritting at 6.15am, depending on weather and road conditions. It takes me an hour and a half to do the route normally but if the road is really bad, it can take up to two or three hours. The route is from the depot on the Portuairk road to the Ferry Stores, then to the pier which is the main bus route. We don't normally do side roads unless the conditions are really bad, which is down to me deciding when I get to Salen. If I think the road conditions are really bad, I can request to turn about and come back down to Kilchoan.

At times we have a loader down at Kilchoan depot but sometimes we have to take it back to Strontian if the other loader breaks down. That means I have to go to Strontian to pick up more salt. Depending on road conditions elsewhere, I sometimes have to cover other routes on the main roads - for example, on Tuesday I had to go to Lochailort, as the other gritter had broken down, so I cannot always get down to cover side roads which are always second to be gritted.

Sometimes I go out and I don't have to grit at all. This has happened quite often this winter but sometimes, when daylight comes in, a frost can come in very sharply, but I am not to know what the road conditions are like on the side roads. Perhaps people in Portuairk and Sanna could phone Strontian (01967 402027) and report the road conditions, but it will be up to the command whether I go back down or not.

Sometimes if the forecast is bad, we will do a pre-grit on all routes, which includes all the side roads. We are supposed to be off the side roads before darkness comes in - this is for safety reasons.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused due to lack of gritting, but it is out of my hands. Drivers be wary of the road conditions and drive accordingly. Four wheel drive vehicles act exactly as a car does unless four wheel drive is used.