News

Dear Editor,
Re: KCC heads should roll over Shepway roads chaos
As one of the drivers caught in the nightmare that was the A20 approaching the Round Hill Tunnel on Wednesday evening, could I just say that, on my way to Ashford earlier in the afternoon, the road did look as if it had been gritted.

However, my understanding is that when a road has been gritted, it needs traffic flowing freely across it in order for the material to start melting the snow.

On Wednesday the snow came down so severely over a short period of time that the traffic came to a halt, and I believe there was a major accident at Capel on the A20 which further complicated the issue.

With traffic at a standstill, the grit was therefore ineffectual, and the gritters could not get through the log jam of traffic to spread any more.

Believe me, I was terrified at the mess around the tunnel, but was very impressed on the exit slip road at Hawkinge to see Highways men out, at no small risk to themselves, with buckets full of salt shovelling it around the wheels of cars which were trying to skid their way up the slip (no pun intended!) road.

I do wish politicians would not immediately jump on the band wagon and use every opportunity to politicise an already fraught situation. And I also wish that people would recognise that, sometimes, despite the best of planning and forecasts, things do not pan out as intended.

And sometimes, it is nobody's fault.

Jean James