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Ross battles to cope with ferocious winter blast
By Lynne Bradshaw - Published: 03 December, 2010 - l.bradshaw@rsjournal.co.uk

(photo) - The big freeze even toppled this gritter at Nigg Hill.
EXTREME weather brought dramatic scenes to roads across Ross-shire as a gritter lorry, two buses and a haulage truck all fell victim to the treacherous road conditions.
Two members of an Easter Ross gritter crew battling to clear roads were injured on Monday evening when their lorry skidded off the road at Nigg Hill and overturned into a ditch.

Earlier that morning Tain pedestrians witnessed a frightening scene when an unstoppable double decker bus slipped down St Duthus Street and careered right across the main street on to a pavement. It was only inches away from crashing into buildings as it came to halt at the front steps of an office, after it had swiped a stationary car which was occupied by a local couple.

Two heavy vehicles were also involved in crashes on Friday. A Black Isle farmer had to be cut free from a lorry carrying 20 head of cattle when it went off the road down an embankment.
He was trapped in the cab by a fence post and was later airlifted to Raigmore Hospital with a back injury.
Earlier that day at 7.30am a service bus was involved in a collision with a car at Dochcarty Road in Dingwall.

The Arctic blast brought widespread disruption to Ross-shire this week with school closures, and ensured the county was one of the coldest places in the UK.
Worst hit was Loch Glascarnoch at Aultguish near Garve where the Met Office recorded a temperature of -16.7C yesterday (Thursday) at 9am.

It was Wednesday lunchtime before the gritter lorry which crashed near Nigg on Monday was lifted out of the ditch by a crane.
The two Council workers in the lorry were both injured - one suffered a broken finger while the other sustained a whiplash back injury.

It meant the Council team working to overcome the harshest November road conditions in decades in the Tain area, were one vehicle down.

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross area roads manager, Campbell Stewart, said the accident had been very traumatic for the crew members, who were now off work as a result of their injuries.
Mr Stewart said that despite the accident, his staff were pulling out all the stops to clear as many roads as possible in very difficult conditions.
"We have had acute and unexpected conditions for November," said Mr Stewart.
"The public seem to have realistic expectations and the local members have been very supportive."
MSP Jamie Stone, on the left of this picture, surveys the scene at Tain where a bus slid off the road and crashed. Local MSP Jamie Stone, who witnessed the double decker slide across Tain's main street and crash into the steps of his office, said the town's roads and pavements were the worst he had ever experienced.
"The accident was particularly dramatic, but it could have been an awful lot worse.
"I have to say I felt very sorry for the couple in the car and for the bus driver who was very shaken," said Mr Stone.
He watched as the bus, which had no passengers, skidded down the slope on St Duthus Street, passed the Royal Hotel, went right across the High Street and over onto the pavement at his local constituency office. "What stopped it was the second step to the front of my office," said Mr Stone.
He said the driver of the parked Honda car could see the bus coming his way and managed to manoeuvre it forward a bit, but the double decker caught it a glancing blow, hitting the nearside wing and the front of the car.
He added the accident had prompted one local wag to quip, "I know that politicians are unpopular, but this is really taking things a bit far."

Inspector Garry Cameron at Dornoch said there had been numerous road incidents all over the Tain area, while Alness-based Inspector David Greenlees said in his Ross and Cromarty patch the police had to deal with fewer accidents caused by road conditions, compared to last winter's cold snap.
Numerous schools were closed at the start of the week, but it dwindled down to six on Wednesday and there were no closures yesterday.
Road maintenance crews in both Council areas covering Ross-shire worked flat out to salt and plough as many roads as possible.
However there were grumbles from the public about the poor state of public car parks and some roads, as well as claims that some Council lorries did not seem to be gritting as they travelled along.

The Council's TEC Services community works manager for Ross and Cromarty, Ian Hay, said his clearing teams were working in very challenging conditions in low temperatures.
He explained salt has very little effect when temperatures drop to below -9C degrees, and they were now using a mix of salt and sand to give a better road grip for motorists. He added that if lorries are spotted not gritting, they are probably heading back to depot to get another load. Mr Hay emphasised that crews were working from 6am to 9am, and they had less machines than they used to have.