Royston’s “ice rink” road gets gritting upgrade

ONE of Royston’s busiest roads has been made a priority gritting route after problems caused by recent cold weather.

Royston’s county councillor Fiona Hill has been working with Hertfordshire Highways to get Burns Road changed from “blue” to “red” gritting status. Red routes are treated as a precaution before any snow or ice, while blue routes only get seen to after wintry weather has struck.

As reported in the Crow last week, parents at Roman Way and Roysia schools experienced problems on the icy roads and pavements when snow first struck last Monday.

Cllr Hill said: “I contacted Hertfordshire Highways as soon as the snow fell last Monday and it was clear there were some problems.

“For some reason it wasn’t a priority route but it should have been because buses travel down there. I’ve been working with the local MP and several others to get this changed, and it was back to a red route as of Tuesday.”

Campaigner Terry Hutt had contacted Royston’s MP Oliver Heald about the road, having described it as an “ice rink” when he went to collect his grandchildren from school last Monday.

Mr Heald said he had also been liaising with Hertfordshire Highways to support Cllr Hill’s work.

He said: “It is obviously very important that there should be proper gritting outside schools.

“Gritting is always important but the timing can be crucial. I will be responding to constituents as soon as I have a full report.”