No grit for north Mayo road this winter

THE R315 Crossmolina to Ballycastle road will not be gritted this winter.

Councillor Michael Loftus had lobbied for it to be included in the council's winter services plan.

In a reply to a motion, he was told the council treats 1,350 kms of roads across 21 treatment routes.

The winter services plan for 2024/25 is currently being prepared and should be completed by the end of September.

'There is currently no spare capacity in the gritting routes with the number of available lorries and salt gritters fully utilised.

This is particularly the case for the two gritting routes for Ballina MD, and there is no capacity in these routes to grit the 22 kilometres of R315 from Crossmolina to Ballycastle.

'Any additions to the gritting programme can only be accommodated by the purchase of additional lorries/gritters. Additional funding for the winter maintenance programme would also need to be provided in the annual roads programme.'