Sponsored by
Fylde drivers' suffer snow rage
HIGHWAYS chiefs today hit back at claims the Fylde coast's main roads had been left ungritted.
Many drivers were left fuming after roads became treacherous following the sudden snowfall yesterday and again overnight.
It is the heaviest snowfall on the Fylde coast in more than a decade.
Ten centimetres fell yesterday with more overnight.
The M55 was again badly hit and was today down to two lanes in both directions.
Among the worst affected main roads were Preston New Road, St Walburga's Road and Newton Drive in Blackpool, and Clifton Drive South in St Annes, where a car collided with a lamp-post outside King Edward and Queen Mary School.
East Park Drive in Blackpool was closed for about two hours yesterday after police deemed it was too dangerous for motorists.
Many bus routes have been affected. Services between Preston and Blackpool were cancelled earlier today.
And in Blackpool itself only Lines 1 (Airport to Fleetwood), Line 5 (Victoria Hospital to Halfway House), Lines 7 & 11 (Lytham to Cleveleys) and Line 14 (St Annes to Fleetwood) were running.
For more information on bus services affected call the Blackpoool Transport hotline on (01253) 473000.
While many of the major routes had clearly been gritted this morning, many remained treacherous with both ice and snow following another night of sub-zero temperatures.
Jez Evans, operations manager at Blackpool Council's Layton depot, said all the major routes had been gritted.
He said: "While we accept there may have been problems on some routes we have had teams out around the clock putting down extra grit to make sure motorists and pedestrians can get to where they need to go safely.
"The snowfall very quickly and that has hindered our operations as much of the grit will have been washed away.
"But we went out again straight away to treat the roads again and will do so over the next few days to make sure the roads are covered."
Many minor roads in Fylde and Wyre became impassable.
This led to angry calls council bosses had not done enough to clear the roads.
But County Coun Keith Young, Cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We are confident the main routes have enough salt to stand up to the weather.
"Of course salt is not a magic solution to ice and snow, but the fact that the priority routes have remained useable with care is a tribute to the hard work of our staff."
Trevor Roberts, managing director of Blackpool Transport, said: "The buses were running normally although some were late.
"A few did get stuck, mainly through lack of gritting. Our lads and girls did their best to maintain services as much as they could.
"We did struggle to get to some of the outlying areas, such as Staining, but we were able to get along the main roads and estates."
* Full story and pictures, see Tuesday's Gazette
Blackpool Council say there will be no bin collections today as workers are diverted to help with "snow issues."
Click here to see our selection of wintery snaps from accross the fylde!
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Blackpool
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy sleet
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: West
