By Adrian Mullan
SLIPPERY Roads and footpaths in and around Omagh this week proved hazardous for both pedestrians and motorists.
One man said that he had tried to make the trip across High Street from John Street to get to the First Trust bank but had to turn back because he simply could not walk on the surface. "My momentum on the ice was carrying me, involuntarily, down the street. I had to turn back.
"People trying to come around the courthouse corner had to hold on to the railings to avoid falling."
He added "In the days of the Omagh Urban Council they would have got the streets around the town gritted as well as the parks. A couple of men would have shovelled salt off the back of a lorry, and the roads and footpaths would have been kept clear. This is a disgrace, both the council and Roads Service seem to be unwilling to take responsibility for gritting. What are we paying our rates for?"
Cllr Paddy McGowan, at Omagh District Council's monthly meeting on Tuesday night, called on the council to take responsibility for gritting and then pass the bill to Roads Service.
He said that the footpaths in the High Street area were impassable and that the new surface appeared to have made things worse. Cllr McGowan added that car parks were no better than ice rinks and he joked that he saw a red coat (traffic warden) chase after a car that had slid away from him as he tried to ticket it.
Many of the rural councillors supported the calls for the streets around the town to be salted whilst calling on Roads Service to salt the rural roads network.
Cllr Allan Rainey thought that Carrickmore and Fintona should also be salting priorities and that businesses and citizens in those areas should not be at any disadvantage.
A spokesperson for Roads Service said, "Generally, on 50 or so occasions per winter road users are able to make the journey to work, as a result of Roads Service staff working throughout the night to make the roads safe. However, despite the best efforts from Roads Service, the elements remind us, from time to time, that while we can mitigate against the worst, we cannot defy nature or guarantee summer driving conditions throughout the year."
'People trying to come around the courthouse corner had to hold on to the railings to avoid falling.'
