Cllr Haughey stated, “After the bad weather earlier in the year Road Service agreed to carrying out an road gritting assessment for the Clady Road. I now demand the outcome of that assessment so that residents can be prepared for the wintery months ahead.
“I believe it is essential in terms of safety of road users that the entire stretch of the Clady Road is gritted to include the bus route. The current agreement to grit as far as Leonard’s shop is not enough and will cause danger to unsuspecting road users who continue to travel over the Clady road pass the football field.
“There is a whole area of Clady which is still completely isolated in the winter months including Rockstown, Friary, Tullywill, Cladybeg and Ballylane areas. What is worse still is that the grit lorry drives over the Clady Road from Leonard’s shop to the cross roads with the salt turned off! That is completely outrageous and insulting for people living in the area.
“I have fought very hard to get this road salted and I will continue to press Road Service to do a complete job and salt the entire stretch of road. The school bus cannot travel in this area during snow and frost and it is essential that the bus route is gritted so that children can get to and from school safely. I have the full backing of Translink in this matter also and it’s about time Road Service listened to our call and do the right thing
“Residents will be aware that earlier in the year I arranged with Road Service for an assessment to be carried out pass the football field, yet the outcome of this assessment has not been released. This assessment must also take into consideration the importance of local businesses for employment and economy of the area. If these businesses cannot operate due to bad road conditions then that is a problem for all of us. I’m now calling on Road Service to act and to announce that they will salt the entire Clady Road stretch.
“I look forward to Road Service’s response and I hope it will be one that will bring relief to the people of Clady who are battling this problem every single winter.”