OK, it hasn’t started to snow yet, but some of the pavements are already slippery. Over the last three years I’ve been funding grit bins for those Woodbridge neighbourhoods who asked for them and now is the time to start using a handful or two of the contents to keep crossings and bus stops safe. in fact I nipped out before 8 this morning and gritted the Duke of York bus stop and crossing this morning. Just in case.
And can I please reiterate what I’ve said in the past, – slippery footways are an issue not for some imaginary ‘them’ but for all of us. Lets face it, we can easily grit a local pavement or two when we see the need. At this time of year the people who run the gritting lorries are out day and night trying to keep as much of the thousands of miles of Suffolk roads passable as possible.
Friends driving into Suffolk from adjoining counties have often commented on the winter difference when they cross our county boundary. Suffolk is clearly doing things right! Yet it seems to be fashionable amongst many Suffolk car-drivers to criticise our heroic road gritters pretty well without thought or reflection. Me – I have nothing but the utmost admiration for them. Suffolk’s highways gritting service is run via a handful of people working throughout the nights and they do a fantastic job – without expectation of any kind of thanks at all.
Now that Balfour Beatty is set to take over Suffolk’s highway road maintenance services, we must hope that they will continue to support our winter roads – and the gritters themselves – at the current level of excellence!