Council’s gritting teams covered distance equivalent to length of the original Great Wall of China (Ming Dynasty wall) over the weekend.
As temperatures dropped and hazardous driving conditions set in over the weekend, Warwickshire’s gritting teams were hard at work to keep the county moving safely. Over the weekend alone, more than 5,500 miles – equivalent to the length of the original Ming Dynasty Great Wall of China (before additional sections were built) - of roads were treated.
This mirrored the work done over the Christmas holiday period. Operating from five depots across Warwickshire, the teams headed out 14 times from 23 December, covering a total of 15,400 miles to combat icy conditions.
Around 46% of Warwickshire’s highway network, approximately 1,100 miles is treated whenever forecasts predict icy conditions. While it’s not possible to grit every road, the county follows clear criteria:
- all main traffic routes, A roads, most B roads and one or two other strategic routes
- in urban areas, the accesses to hospitals and main industrial estates
- a single route into all villages is maintained.
Heavy snowfall is slightly different. Here, the policy is as follows:
- the roads receiving gritting will be cleared as soon as possible, starting in areas of the heaviest snowfall.
- strategic link routes will be made accessible across the network first
- highly used footpaths and cycleways will also be cleared.
The County Council is starting a bulk fill of all of its grit bins across the County today, as many have been used during the recent period.
Cllr Jennifer Warren, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning, said:
“We’re extremely grateful to our gritting teams who worked tirelessly over the weekend and throughout the Christmas period to help people travel safely.
“We’re often asked why some roads aren’t gritted. The reality is we can’t treat every road, so we prioritise key routes. And it’s important to remember that gritting isn’t a magic fix, it helps, but safe driving is essential.
“We continually update our data to ensure we grit the right roads at the right time. Where roads aren’t gritted, we work with local councils to provide salt bins for communities to use on footpaths.”
There are around 1,200 grit bins across Warwickshire, located mainly on roads away from precautionary gritted routes and on steep inclines. Residents’ associations and town councils can also request bins in agreed locations, which the county council refills before winter and as needed depending on the weather.
Some residents have been asking the council if roads have been gritted when they notice roads still appear to be icy. Scott Carpenter, delivery services manager at Warwickshire County Council, explains:
“When snow falls after salt has been spread, it needs traffic to work it in for full effectiveness. Over the holidays, reduced traffic meant roads were sometimes slippier than usual.
“While we do everything possible to keep roads safe, our advice remains: only travel if essential during icy or snowy conditions and always drive according to the Highway Code as stopping distances significantly increase during icy weather.”
For further information on the county council’s gritting policy, go to www.warwickshire.gov.uk/gritting. Advice on driving in icy conditions can be found at https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/seasonal/how-to-drive-in-snow