OUT of control cars and crashes on a notorious Teesdale road have sparked more pleas for a solution before someone is killed.
The route out of Teesdale into Arkengarthdale over the Stang had cars sliding down the County Durham side last Thursday (February 1).
A Land Rover was badly damaged when an out-of-control Mercedes smashed into its rear.
Its driver narrowly missed being hit by the sliding vehicle while she was helping another stranded motorist.
A delivery van stopped to help but not before it slid down the hill after the driver got out.
North Yorkshire Police responded to rescue the stricken motorists and the road was gritted later that afternoon but commuters want to know why the call wasn’t made sooner. Meanwhile, pictures taken by drivers show the North Yorkshire side completely clear of ice and snow this Monday, while the County Durham side a few metres away remained treacherous.
Staindrop’s Jeremy Shaw goes over the Stang to get to work. He said: “It was particularly bad [last week]. The amount of times I’ve emailed to say there is no salt out – I work on an estate where we have an agreement with North Yorkshire County Council over salt bins and salt.
“It would be a help if Durham put out salt bins and replenished them – that wouldn’t be expensive.
“It’s awful to think some poor soul may well get injured for something to be done.”
Clare Martin, who works at
Arkengarthdale school, uses the road regularly from
Stainton Village.
She said: “I feel so very sorry for everyone that gets affected by the fact that the road is not treated properly and in good time.
“I have spent more time this winter having to travel the long route, via Richmond and Reeth, taking an hour rather than the 20 minutes it would take over The Stang.
“But at least I have not had an accident – albeit I’m very scared at times and sometimes out of control.”
At the moment, the road is served by a Durham County Council commissioned gritter after 48 hours of lying snowfall with mounds of grit left by the side of the road as a backup. However, the gritter can only go out when given permission from County Hall while residents and farmers are left to cope with frozen or depleted grit piles when treating the road themselves.
County councillor George Richardson said the authority needed to find a better way forward.
He said: “I’ve been getting emails from a number of people over that way.
“I know it’s difficult for Durham County Council with all the cuts they make but there needs to be a way forward – it’s not right that Yorkshire are looking after it on one side.
“If it leads to a fatality they will turn around and say what could have been – we are screaming and shouting and trying to get it looked after.”
Brian Buckley, from Durham County Council, said: “We are aware that North Yorkshire Police attended a road traffic accident, but neither our highways team nor Durham Constabulary were notified. We grit as many of our roads as we can to keep the county moving and safe during winter weather.”
He said the road is a priority two route and the council will consider residents’ requests for this to be upgraded to a priority one gritting route as part of the annual review after the winter.
“We also provide salt heaps on this road to assist motorists and we regularly top these up,” Mr Buckley said.
