Gritters out on Plymouth’s roads tonight

With temperatures forecast to fall below zero degrees tonight, all primary and secondary gritting routes in and around Plymouth will be treated to stop icy patches from forming.

Amey, the Council’s highways contractor, has its winter service team on standby 24 hours a day from the beginning of October to the end of March each year. During this period the weather is monitored closely via a dedicated forecast station and two sensor stations, to ensure roads are pre-treated with salt before temperatures drop.

There are 1,018 tonnes of salt in the city’s salt barn at Prince Rock Depot and the 400 community salt bins around the city have also been topped up for people to use locally on public roads and footways.

Teams from Amey and the Council are ready to respond to common weather-related issues such as fallen trees, blocked gullies and localised flooding – as well as managing traffic flow and helping to keep road users safe in dark, wet and cold conditions.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “As we move into the winter, our services are focused on keeping the city moving no matter what the weather throws at us. It’s been fairly warm for the time of year but we’re well-prepared for any sudden changes and gritting teams are ready to go.

“We’ve seen some pretty severe conditions over the last two winters which have ravaged the city’s roads. We’ve been working hard to tackle the worst damage and are just finishing a major resurfacing programme that has given 65 roads a new lease of life.

“We’ve also carried out preventative and protective micro asphalting on roads showing the first signs of deterioration and hired the Roadmaster, which repaired around 11,000 defects far more quickly and cost-effectively than traditional methods. Ten gangs have been working day and night to battle the pothole problem and a staggering 24,563 potholes have been repaired.

“Despite widespread Government cuts, we’re spending more than £4.5 million on road repairs and resurfacing this financial year, as part of our commitment to spend an extra £20 million over a decade.

“Improving the condition of the city’s roads will remain a major priority for the Council in 2015 and we will keep pushing for significantly increased funding to do this. We will continue our regular road inspections and emergency pothole repairs throughout the winter and are already gearing up for next year’s repair programme – which will definitely see the return of the Roadmaster.”

Paul Anderson, Account Manager for Amey said: “We are extremely pleased that the innovations we are implementing in the delivery of the highway service are bringing real benefits to the road users in the city and we look forward to continuing our close working relationship with Plymouth City Council.”

For information about gritting routes and the location of community grit bins visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/wintermaintenance. Drivers can find useful winter travel advice at www.plymouth.gov.uk/wintertraveladvice. For regular winter service updates follow @plymouthroads on Twitter.