Concerns have been raised over the level of winter salting on Northern Ireland’s roads amid fears the cost of salt is to rise by 22%.
A City councillor warned there could be “safety consequences” amid the rising cost of the substance as well as fuel.
The issue emerged at a special meeting of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC). Following the meeting the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) released budget figures to the local democracy reporting service.
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The figures show that DfI spent a total of £6.63 million on gritting roads over the 2021/22 winter period. However, they added that this year the cost of “material salt” is expected to rise this by 22%.
Speaking at the meeting, Ulster Unionist Downshire East councillor, Alex Swan said: “I would be very concerned that what we could see budgetary decisions having to be made by DfI that could result in public safety consequences on the roads this winter.
“We will be seeing a rise in material and fuel costs for DfI and there is likely to be no further money to be added to their budget. Previously we would have seen some Stormont departments with surplus money from their budgets being used to top up other departments.
“However, with the Assembly down and unlikely to restart any time soon, we are heading into a winter with a potential higher risk of danger on the roads if there is no money to send the gritters out in certain areas.”
The Eastern Division of DfI, which includes the LCCC area, reported its financial concerns in council chambers. The Eastern Division emerged as having the lowest road gritting cost in Northern Ireland for 2021/22 at just under £1 million. The breakdown of the costs included 52 call-outs last year, when approximately 8,563 tonnes of salt were used, at a cost of about £15,000 per call.
Other DfI Divison’s costs listed were - Northern £1.709 million; Southern £1.759 million and Western £1.969 million with £210,000 spent on weather forecasting and weather station maintenance costs.
A DfI spokesperson said: “The department aims to help traffic on main roads move safely in wintry conditions by spreading salt at the most effective times. It is estimated that there will be an increase of about 22% in the material salt costs this year compared to last year.
“However, the weather and resulting number of salting actions is the main influence on total winter costs. Staff are on standby 24 hours a day to monitor and react according to the conditions.
“The department grits main through routes that carry more than 1,500 vehicles per day and in exceptional circumstances, roads with difficult topography and carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 vehicles per day.
“Small settlements in rural areas containing 100 dwellings or more also have salted links to roads on the main salted network. The application of this policy ensures an equitable service across Northern Ireland and ensures that 28% of the total road network, which carries around 80% of traffic, is salted.”
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