america

[fruitsalad]

on gmtv today or may have been yesterday, they were talking to people in new york and they were saying that when it snows they get the roads etc cleared within 1 or 2 days so everyone can go about their business without to much disruption, what i would like to know is, as we try to do everything the americans do could we not follow their lead and get the roads cleared as fast?

[steg]

the roads up here were cleared very quickly as per usual, the thing is some places are more used to snow, and expect it, so are more prepared for it.

[hc4361]

That's the advantage of building a city on a grid system, all straight roads, no curly bits or dead ends. Nice wide roads and pavements.

[Booldawg]

I take it Milton Keynes was cleared in no time then!

[andy-hughes]

This question raises its head every winter - why do other countries manage better than we do?

The answer is very simple. Countries, or areas of countries like the US who are assured of deep snow every winter have strategies in place to deal with them effectively - New York is an example.

For other countries, and areas, where snowfall and cold temperatures are not reasonably predictable, a balance between the cost efficiencies of storing grit and salt and investing in road-clearing equipment has to be calculated against the odds of it not being cost effective. The end result is - with exceptional conditions like we have this winter, resources are insufficient, and everyone moans! If the councils invested in stockpiles of grit and snow-clearing machinery, the increase in council tax would make people moan even more, so we should simply accept that dealing with winter is not, never has been, and never will be an accurately predictable situation in the UK. We take a calculated risk with resources, and we get caught out.

It's only weather - let's keep a sense of proportion.

[jno]

It's not always arranged better abroad. Here's a letter from the Guardian, quoting a French newspaper:

**"On manque de sel pour déneiger. Dans plusieurs départements, peu habitués à d'abondantes chutes de neige, les stocks de sel sont déjà épuisés." The article quotes Brittany, Normandy and the Dordogne specifically in this context and also writes of: "La paralysie des routes secondaires" in France. Stocks of salt exhausted; paralysis of main roads – they do things so much better than we British, don't they?**