Gritters will be out on Plymouth's primary routes tonight, with road surface temperatures potentially falling below freezing.
Crews from the Council and South West Highways are geared up to keep the city's roads moving in winter, monitoring the weather closely via a forecast station and two sensor stations, to ensure roads are pre-treated with salt before temperatures drop and help prevent icy patches from forming.
Six dedicated gritters are on 24-hour standby during the winter season (which runs from the beginning of October to the end of March) to keep the city’s main routes clear.
All the vehicles are fitted with a tracking device that monitors the tonnage of salt used on different parts of the network during each trip.
The city’s salt barn at Prince Rock Depot is stocked with around 1,300 tonnes of salt and the 454 community salt bins around the city have been topped up for people to use locally on public roads and footways in colder weather.
Teams are also ready to respond to other weather-related issues such as fallen trees, blocked gullies and localised flooding – as well as manage traffic flow and help keep road users safe in dark, wet and cold conditions.
Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport and Planning, said: “Our teams monitor the weather closely and are ready to go when the worst of the winter weather hits. Gritters are on standby for whenever temperatures are forecast to drop near or below freezing to keep Plymouth’s roads moving.”
For regular winter service updates follow @plymhighways on Twitter. Further information is also available on our winter gritting page.
Useful info:
- A full gritting run covers more than 40 per cent of the city’s road network and takes about three hours.
- Footpaths are not routinely gritted.
- The grit bins around the city can be used by members of the public to treat public roads or footpaths but salt from these bins should not be stockpiled for use on private property.
- Residents who want to treat pavements and driveways in front of their properties should only need a tablespoon of salt for each square metre. Ordinary table salt and dishwasher salt can also be used before the onset of freezing conditions. Residents are always urged to take care.
- Residents should avoid using hot water to clear snow or ice as this freezes and causes even more hazardous conditions.