Winter gritting season officially underway in Staffordshire
Staffordshire’s gritters have been put through their paces, as the winter gritting season officially gets underway.
The third week in October is traditional the start of Staffordshire County Council’s gritting operations, where gritting crews are ready to roll whenever the temperature drops.
With more than 40-plus gritters and snow ploughs, and more than 20,000 tonnes of salt stockpiled, Staffordshire is well prepared for any adverse weather conditions.
Temperatures and road conditions will be monitored from weather stations across the county and the team of winter decision makers will make the call as to when and where to send out the gritters.
On routine winter days and nights gritters will be focusing on the major routes and extending to the wider network in prolonged ice and snow conditions.
The county’s hill contractors are also called into action on the higher ground in the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Staffordshire County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, Councillor David Williams, said: “We’ve been putting our army of gritters through their paces over last few weeks, to make sure they are well prepared for the winter season.
“From now until next April, we will be monitoring temperatures and road conditions on a daily basis, and making decisions to send our crews out when bad weather hits.
“On a typical winter’s day we will be out largely on key A and B roads, but in prolonged ice or snow we will be pulling out all the stops to treat less major routes across the network.
“Of course, every winter is a partnership effort. Our crews play their part, our communities do theirs by clearing local paths and we ask all drivers to play theirs as well.”
People can find out more about how the county prepares for winter at staffordshire.gov.uk/winter
