Monaghan County Council will endeavour to prevent ice forming on 610km of Priority 1 and 2 routes as described below.

Treatment Routes By Priority 2020-2021 (PDF)

 

 Route Designation  Description  Level of Service
 Priority 1 All National Primary and National Secondary Roads  These routes are ordinarily treated during winter weather and receive pre and post salting treatment and ploughing when necessary.
 Priority 2  All  Regional Roads and a number of heavily   trafficked Local Roads  These routes are ordinarily treated during winter weather but may have interruptions to treatment in certain severe weather events
 Priority 3 Footpaths in urban centres and all other Local Roads.  Not treated as part of the normal winter service but may receive intermittent treatment during certain severe weather events subject to resource availability.

The priority 1 and 2 salting routes are divided into 8 separate treatment routes for operational purposes as illustrated below.

Treatment Routes 2020 2021 (PDF)

 

 Treatment Route  Priority 1  Priority 2  Priority 3
 Mobilisation Time  1 hr  1 hr  When possible
 Treatment Time  2 hrs  3-5 hrs  When possible

Service Limitations

Despite the resources that are applied to providing the winter service, ice-free roads cannot be guaranteed. The motorist should remember the following:

  • Approximately 76% of roads are not routinely salted.
  • In Ireland there are a high proportion of marginal nights when temperatures are very close to zero. This makes it more difficult to accurately predict frost than in colder countries. As a consequence Met Éireann can only guarantee 80% accuracy in their forecasts
  • It can take up to 4 hours to salt a route, so any journey may start or end on an untreated section of the route.
  • In heavy rain, salt can be washed away and the wet surface may subsequently freeze if the temperature falls below zero.
  • In cases of extended severe weather events, the network salted may have to be reduced to Priority 1 routes only.
  • Spreading of Salt does not mean that the road surface will necessarily be ice free. In freezing conditions always drive with great care even if the road has been salted.