Updated: Overnight snow brings chaos to south Essex (From Echo)
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Updated: Overnight snow brings chaos to south Essex
4:30pm Friday 18th December 2009 in
HEAVY snow across south Essex caused chaos on the roads.
A thick blizzard descended on the area, bringing public transport to a halt and leaving hundreds of schools closed.
Roads were choked with slow-moving traffic as motorists stayed safe and kept speed to a minimum, causing long delays on several busy thoroughfares including the A127 and A13.
Dozens of bus services were called off, although rail services went largely unaffected.
The blizzard came just ten months after south Essex had its largest snowfall in 18 months, while people in Canvey and Southend also reported an unusual thunderstorm.
Lots of children celebrated with fights in a thick carpet of snow, as the school closures meant many of them will not return to class until the new year.
Meanwhile, Essex County Council tried to fight off road chaos as its fleet of 65 winter gritters were sent out to salt the county's 1,870 miles of major roads.
But on Canvey and Southend residents raised concerns that the gritting operation didn’t happen quickly or was widespread enough.
Castle Point MP Bob Spink also criticised the gritting operation.
But Norman Hume, the county council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “Our gritting crews have done exceptionally well in extreme winter conditions for the second time this year in Essex.
“To keep the county moving as effectively as possible we focussed our efforts on the primary network.”
He added: “Our traffic control centre will continue sending out bulletins to radio stations and media outlets around the county, as well as providing information to the public over the phone, email and face to face.”
This morning, broken down lorries blocked Priory Crescent in Southend causing long delays for motorists and a jack-knifed lorry caused major problems for drivers in Ashingdon Road, Ashingdon.
Firefighters at Rayeigh Weir were called out when a car collided with a gritting lorry shortly after midnight but no serious injuries have been reported.
Related links
- ECHO READERS' SNOW PICTURE GALLERY
- MP SPINK CRITICISES GRITTING OF CASTLE POINT ROADS
- POLICE INUNDATED WITH SNOW-RELATED CALLS
Comments(62)
westcliff willi
says...
9:00am Fri 18 Dec 09
westcliff willi
says...
9:01am Fri 18 Dec 09
westcliff willi
says...
9:01am Fri 18 Dec 09
'V'
says...
9:16am Fri 18 Dec 09
radioman
says...
9:22am Fri 18 Dec 09
But, as Alan Bennet might say, "They won't, will they"
Soozie
says...
9:31am Fri 18 Dec 09
This is what is know as WINTER!
lady-bird
says...
9:38am Fri 18 Dec 09
Our councils are a joke!!
repunzel223
says...
10:06am Fri 18 Dec 09
Parsnip
says...
10:12am Fri 18 Dec 09
atwork
says...
10:21am Fri 18 Dec 09
anon anon
says...
10:27am Fri 18 Dec 09
Parsnip wrote:go back to bed then.... !!!!
I've been staying at my girlfriend's in Southend. Every road apart from the A127 HAS NOT BEEN GRITTED!!!!!!!!!!!
mister strides
says...
10:29am Fri 18 Dec 09
Mush!
mister strides
says...
10:33am Fri 18 Dec 09
sjreynolds143
says...
10:38am Fri 18 Dec 09
cherylB
says...
10:49am Fri 18 Dec 09
ex-essex
says...
11:14am Fri 18 Dec 09
Marshwalker
says...
11:15am Fri 18 Dec 09
Also by the way it is the first time in 64 years that I have ever seen lightening in a snow storme in the UK, I think we will see more of this Phenomenon in the UK due to climat change.
j-w
says...
11:40am Fri 18 Dec 09
R85
says...
11:40am Fri 18 Dec 09
Horace Wimpole
says...
12:07pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Horace Wimpole
says...
12:09pm Fri 18 Dec 09
southendmechanic
says...
12:14pm Fri 18 Dec 09
evamichel
says...
12:23pm Fri 18 Dec 09
shoebury resident
says...
12:34pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Madame_Medusa
says...
12:57pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Nebs wrote:Nebs, I totally agree. Fully prepared....yeah right! Not a grain of grit that I've seen. My partner has now had to take time off of work because his childs school has closed. Doubt if he'll get paid. I'm sure all the teachers tried their hardest to get to work....not! Free day off. I'm obviously in the wrong profession!
Yesterdays story had the heading "We can cope with icy roads, claim councils", and included the following passage: Essex County Council was even more dismissive of the AA’s claims. Spokesman Michael Page said: “Essex is fully prepared for this winter on the roads...." . Why are schools closed - they knew about this yesterday, and have made no contingency plans. Is it snowing inside the classrooms?
ex-essex
says...
1:08pm Fri 18 Dec 09
evamichel wrote:When he gets in, would be fascinated to know where he's been gritting?
I would just like to say my husband is one of the gritters in southend he has been out gritting since 10pm last night and at this present time is still out.
Horace Wimpole
says...
1:25pm Fri 18 Dec 09
I'm sure all the teachers tried their hardest to get to work....not! Free day off. I'm obviously in the wrong profession!See above. Be sure of your facts before doing the usual English whinge about everyone and everything.
Max Impact
says...
1:27pm Fri 18 Dec 09
These Xmas bashes are killing me...
The High Street had paths cut through the ice, there are far more important things to think about like who is going to make the next cup of tea...
sjreynolds143
says...
2:24pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Snow ploughs would be nice, but expensive toys for the few occasions they would actually be used.
Of course, you could always invest in a set of snow chains, but perhaps you don't want to shell out for something that you would use but rarely...
VictoriaLS
says...
3:50pm Fri 18 Dec 09
We've had an enoyable day in and ut of the snow. Hope we get more!!!
bigidiot
says...
3:54pm Fri 18 Dec 09
It took me 3 hours to travel 10 miles home from work last night (leaving work at 10pm, expecting a little bit extra travelling time to allow for conditions) towards shoebury, along main roads and not one gritter in sight anywhere.
molly05
says...
4:44pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Soozie
says...
5:19pm Fri 18 Dec 09
http://www.cbc.ca/ca
nada/edmonton/story/
2009/12/13/calgary-f
rigid-weather.html
maddriver
says...
5:34pm Fri 18 Dec 09
As for schools closing, maybe some teachers couldn't make it, but I suspect most did and the schools were closed for health and safety reasons rather than lack of staff.
Iron Mighty
says...
6:19pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Soozie wrote:A friend of mine lives in Edmonton and both he and everyone else manages fine during the winter months. The fact that this country cannot function at all when a few inches of forecast snow falls makes him laugh out loud.
Here is some proper cold and snow!!
http://www.cbc.ca/ca
nada/edmonton/story/
2009/12/13/calgary-f
rigid-weather.html
Horace Wimpole
says...
6:23pm Fri 18 Dec 09
However, I'd be interested to know how much a bit of snow costs this country in loss of productivity: I bet that could pay for a fair few gritters, pavement gritters and salt.
ericslayer
says...
6:30pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Nebs
says...
6:37pm Fri 18 Dec 09
.
And as for parents suing if their child gets hit by a snowball at school, I can't believe children would be let out at lunch or break, but if they are, or if a child slips on the ice on the way to school then, sorry to say it, but tough luck. If they were pushed then sue the one who pushed them, not the school. They all manage to get to the park, play snowballs, go on sledges. But school? Oh no, thats too dangerous. What a load of shoemakers.
mr_happy
says...
6:41pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Southend Council cannot afford to repair or grit the highways, but it is funny how they can cough up millions of pounds to install speed humps and create one-way systems that are a menace to all. It is about time Anna Waite was given her cards, as she is clearly not controlling the situation regarding highways.
P.S: Please drive carefully everyone, and keep your distance from the car in front, slow down by using your gears, only brake at the last minute to avoid what happened last night to a friend of mine when a driver smashed into the back of her car on approach to a roundabout, and then turned round to her and said "Why did you stop?"
Happy Christmas all!
Buffalo Bill
says...
7:40pm Fri 18 Dec 09
http://news.bbc.co.u
k/1/hi/uk/8418457.st
m
dh1968
says...
7:59pm Fri 18 Dec 09
What has the council done with all the gritters this evening ?
Judging by the state of so called major roads not alot !!!!
miguel huntos
says...
8:18pm Fri 18 Dec 09
atwork
says...
8:26pm Fri 18 Dec 09
soul man
says...
9:29pm Fri 18 Dec 09
Trainman
says...
10:51pm Fri 18 Dec 09
When I was young, we had far worse, yet the schools NEVER closed.
When I started work, I even walked through DEEP snowdrifts to get there and got rewarded for doing so.
Oh and transport KEPT going, both road and rail.
Max Impact
says...
11:06pm Fri 18 Dec 09
It’s a fine line as to when to grit, too early and it washes away as cars go over it or if the predicted snow turns to sleet or rain, then if the temperature falls the sleet/rain turns back to snow so the gritters have to go out again to replace all that was lost.
As Sjreynolds143 stated grit is for light snow and NOT the 4-5 inches we had last night which fell over a relatively short period of time.
Snow ploughs are expensive to buy would you want the council to shell out £50,000 on something that would be used once every 3 years or so, there is also the issue or licensing somebody to operate it and have the licence renewed regularly.
The infrastructure is not designed and built to deal with the amount of ice and snow we had, as again it’s not worth the extra cost involved for the frequency we DONT get the snow.
And as for gritting again you can’t do every road it’s not cost effective and you would run out of grit in no time you only do the major roads and secondary roads residential roads are low priority.
Wonder how many of the blinkered people will still fail to read this and go off on one again...People like that really should not be permitted to go out in public unsupervised!
APR
says...
11:10pm Fri 18 Dec 09
.
So weather wasn't so much of an issue.
Children also, automatically went to their closest school, not the one preferred by their parents.
perini
says...
2:59am Sat 19 Dec 09
VictoriaLS wrote:Try walking!!!
I don't see why you're all having a go at the teachers - driving conditions are pretty hazardous - or they were at 8am - it's better to avoid going out if you can - I can't believe that my road wasn't gritted - I live on a bus route road by the Cliffs pavilion - I wouldn't have been able to get my son to school today and am glad they closed the school rather than it to show up as non-attendence for him. He was only supposed to be in for half day. We've had an enoyable day in and ut of the snow. Hope we get more!!!
ex-essex
says...
9:20am Sat 19 Dec 09
Max Impact wrote:'not cost effective'? How come other countries manage it well enough? Stop making excuses for inept planning - we are rubbish at this, not enough people or resources to cope. Rolling out the 'only every 3 years' arguement is pathetic - we need men (& grit) on the ground now!
When will people learn to read other posts and not just be blinkered into skipping those that go some way to explain about the gritters and gritting. It’s a fine line as to when to grit, too early and it washes away as cars go over it or if the predicted snow turns to sleet or rain, then if the temperature falls the sleet/rain turns back to snow so the gritters have to go out again to replace all that was lost. As Sjreynolds143 stated grit is for light snow and NOT the 4-5 inches we had last night which fell over a relatively short period of time. Snow ploughs are expensive to buy would you want the council to shell out £50,000 on something that would be used once every 3 years or so, there is also the issue or licensing somebody to operate it and have the licence renewed regularly. The infrastructure is not designed and built to deal with the amount of ice and snow we had, as again it’s not worth the extra cost involved for the frequency we DONT get the snow. And as for gritting again you can’t do every road it’s not cost effective and you would run out of grit in no time you only do the major roads and secondary roads residential roads are low priority. Wonder how many of the blinkered people will still fail to read this and go off on one again...People like that really should not be permitted to go out in public unsupervised!
Nebs
says...
10:46am Sat 19 Dec 09
ShipShape
says...
5:42pm Sat 19 Dec 09
You can whinge all you want about it, but I liked staying at home!
Max Impact
says...
6:24pm Sat 19 Dec 09
ex-essex wrote:So you did not visit Southend High Street Friday, a bunch of guys were working bloody hard to clear walkways for people,
Max Impact wrote: When will people learn to read other posts and not just be blinkered into skipping those that go some way to explain about the gritters and gritting. It’s a fine line as to when to grit, too early and it washes away as cars go over it or if the predicted snow turns to sleet or rain, then if the temperature falls the sleet/rain turns back to snow so the gritters have to go out again to replace all that was lost. As Sjreynolds143 stated grit is for light snow and NOT the 4-5 inches we had last night which fell over a relatively short period of time. Snow ploughs are expensive to buy would you want the council to shell out £50,000 on something that would be used once every 3 years or so, there is also the issue or licensing somebody to operate it and have the licence renewed regularly. The infrastructure is not designed and built to deal with the amount of ice and snow we had, as again it’s not worth the extra cost involved for the frequency we DONT get the snow. And as for gritting again you can’t do every road it’s not cost effective and you would run out of grit in no time you only do the major roads and secondary roads residential roads are low priority. Wonder how many of the blinkered people will still fail to read this and go off on one again...People like that really should not be permitted to go out in public unsupervised!'not cost effective'? How come other countries manage it well enough? Stop making excuses for inept planning - we are rubbish at this, not enough people or resources to cope. Rolling out the 'only every 3 years' arguement is pathetic - we need men (& grit) on the ground now!
only morons would drive in those conditions, if you think its so cheap to buy a snow plough why dont you buy one and donate it to the council...
other countrys get more snow than we do simple fact after years of having to work within tight financial budgets you get to see the bigger picture of where to spend and where not to spwnd money paying multi billions on upgrading road, rail and leccy to cope with the odd snow is not worth it.
Would you want to see your tax bill and untility bill go up say 20% to cover the cost...
No though not.
Steve H
says...
7:39pm Sat 19 Dec 09
A big thank you from me to all those doing their best to keep the roads clear and a big thumbs down to all those who are complaining because the couldn't drive their cherubs to school or to the local garage for their fags.
bytheway
says...
9:19pm Sun 20 Dec 09
SARFENDMAN
says...
7:08am Mon 21 Dec 09
woodsman
says...
12:40pm Mon 21 Dec 09
peterhamm
says...
4:04pm Mon 21 Dec 09
Horace Wimpole
says...
4:32pm Mon 21 Dec 09
woodsman wrote:You tedious gobshytes keep blaming teachers. For the last fecking time, it's not the TEACHERS to blame. Someone makes a decision on H&S as to hwthee rthe school should open, and that's that.
I made it to work on all days by leaving early (the snow was forecast after all) and driving slowly. If I did not get in I would not be paid or have to take holiday. Just because some teachers live about 10 miles away makes no odds, I live 15 miles from work! In the old days if only some made it and others were late all children were held in the school hall as a group supervised by whoever was in until teachers got their to take their own classes. We have just got soft!!
I don't *agree* with it, and I'm sure some teachers take advantage of the situation (as do many others in all manner of profession), but you keyboard warriors would do well to stop being typical Daily Mail readers, and start thinking for yourselves before making bold proclamations on-line.
bigidiot
says...
8:01pm Mon 21 Dec 09
The Council, as the Highway Authority for the Borough of Southend-on-Sea, is responsible for winter salting and snow clearance of highways within Southend."
Whilst looking for some info about a totally different matter, I found the above statement on Southend County Council's website.
Seems they need to review their own website to find out what they need to do in these circumstances, should they arise again.
Sooh
says...
6:18pm Tue 22 Dec 09
Jonamars
says...
11:42pm Wed 23 Dec 09
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Nebs says...
8:17am Fri 18 Dec 09
.
Why are schools closed - they knew about this yesterday, and have made no contingency plans. Is it snowing inside the classrooms?