CAMPAIGNERS seeking to get a weather ravaged road gritted more regularly have lodged an official complaint amid clamour to increase maintenance funding.
The Stang route from the A66 to Reeth via Arkengarthdale has been struck by icy weather about 50 times since November last year with dozens of cars, wagons and tractors left damaged and stranded on the stretch.
Hope parish clerk Jed Collins has fought tooth and nail to get the C166 route gritted more often so residents and commuters aren’t cut off.
An upcoming review of Durham County Council’s winter maintenance strategy will see the bid to grit the Stang more regularly mulled over.
But Mr Collins hasn’t eased up the pressure and has threatened to have a judicial review launched to see the road gritted as a “priority one” route.
He said: “We have generated an awful lot of evidence through this winter and through social media.
“They have got a maintenance review meeting coming up and I’m hoping the evidence we put forward will convince them to upgrade the Stang road.
“If they don’t proceed down that route we’ll argue for a judicial review.”
The Stang route peaks at 1,500 feet above sea level and is lined with mounds of grit during the winter months.
It is gritted by contractors on the County Durham side once snow has been lying for 48 hours – falling under “priority two” status.
But residents and commuters have long argued the route should be upgraded and gritted more regularly to prevent the route becoming icy before any snow settles.
Mr Collins believed the maintenance review offered the best chance for next winter.
“It will cost them very little money to upgrade the Stang – the Tiplady tractor already covers the road from Greta Bridge to Barningham,” he added.
“We’re not talking about £100,000 or £50,000 a year extra being needed – it would be about six or seven miles of road.”
Meanwhile, Durham County Council’s cabinet is due to hear a proposal today (Wednesday) for both the government and the authority to top up budget funding for highways in the county.
Cllr Mark Wilkes is to ask the council to consider all parish councils and residents when it came to the winter maintenance review.
His motion has called for a review of the grit bin scoring system and more money as he believed the £1.3million extra offered by the government for highways would “not touch the sides of the work required” .
Mark Readman, county council highway services manager, said: “Our annual review of winter maintenance is due to start next month, after the winter maintenance season ends on April 30.
“We are committed to pre-cautionary salting 45 per cent of the road network.
“While our budget will not allow us to increase this figure for the 2018/19 season, we do make changes to which roads we treat as a result of our annual review.”
