Wintery snap continues – take care on the roads
Warwickshire’s highways teams are continuing to try and keep the county on the move following continued snowfalls and freezing temperatures.
The county’s fleet of 33 gritting lorries and snow ploughs have been in action again overnight and in the early hours to try and ensure roads were passable this morning.
The roads were gritted at 7pm last night and then again at about 3am this morning, and again at 6am, they now remain on standby this morning.
This winter has been notably colder than many with 53 precautionary evening grits so far this winter, compared to a seasonal average of around 40 grits. Each time 250 tonnes of salt are put down each night on the highway network to help make road journeys safe as possible.
Warwickshire County Council’s County Highways operates the fleet of vehicles from seven depots across the county in order to ensure the essential gritting operations are carried out with minimal delay.
Warwickshire County Highways is today continuing to manage a potential shortage of grit following announcements that supplies nationally could be running out.
However, early indications are that Warwickshire could be getting a deliver of grit today.
All primary gritting routes in Warwickshire are being maintained, but the gritting of secondary routes and the refilling of grit bins will not be undertaken until resources allow.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, with responsibility for highways, said: “We have to respond to these national shortages of gritting salt to ensure we maintain a safe road system for the coming weeks. The highways teams in Warwickshire have done a wonderful job in the last week in keeping our roads moving and major routes clear.
”We advise drivers to take extra care in snow conditions particularly when approaching junctions. People should only make essential journeys. Listen to the radio or watch TV bulletins to be aware of the conditions for your journeys.”
Regular updates on weather and highway conditions are being reported to local radio stations. For advice on winter driving see http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/travel
Carillion Road Maintenance contractors are providing the snow clearing activities.