Paul West, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for Ipswich, operational highways and flooding, says gritters Father Gritmas, Gritty Gritty Bang Bang and Spread Sheeran are ready for the cold
As temperatures plummet, highways teams have now switched their main focus to ensuring the county’s roads are treated and kept free from snow and ice.
Despite experiencing mild temperatures in the autumn, our highways teams have been carefully planning our winter gritting operation for months to ensure we are prepared for whatever the weather throws our way.
Over the past week, our 39-strong gritting fleet, named by the Suffolk public, including Father Gritmas, Gritty Gritty Bang Bang and Spread Sheeran, went on multiple treatment runs across half of the entire local road network in Suffolk.
The gritting treatment of our roads in Suffolk is vital to ensure people can continue to travel and do so safely during winter.
During the 2022/23 winter season, Suffolk used around 12,989 tonnes of salt to treat a total distance of 177,983 miles – which equates to travelling the circumference of Earth over seven times!
Suffolk Highways currently has a stock of around 17,000 tonnes of salt across the county for the season ahead and is well prepared for any further drop in temperatures.
Our highway teams are responsible for gritting 36 Priority 1 (P1) routes, which amounts to around 1,259 miles, including all A and B roads, roads to fire stations, hospitals, main bus routes and rail stations.
They also have 34 Priority 2 (P2) routes, which amounts to around 843 miles of the network, this includes other bus routes, roads leading to rural villages and access to schools.
The P1 routes are completed when road surface temperatures are forecast to drop below 1°C and P2 routes are carried out when the forecast predicts there to be a longer period of cold weather conditions.
This entire operation is one which requires extremely careful pre-planning and running throughout.
Every single decision to grit or not is based upon forecasted road surface temperatures, whilst also considering the impact of other factors, such as wind and heavy rain.
But gritting the priority network isn’t all that the teams do to prepare our county for wintry weather; Suffolk Highways has also refilled 2,100 grit bins across the county at registered locations, such as the bottom of hills, or on junctions of minor roads.
Grit bins are owned by parish and town councils and to ensure that the contents of grit bins are used to make roads safer, our communities are encouraged to monitor how and where the grit is used and if more is required to report it via the reporting tool.
Suffolk’s residents can also do their part to support us with our gritting efforts by parking considerately and leaving enough room so that our vehicles can grit the road – if we can’t fit, we can’t grit!
Anyone who would like to know when and where we are gritting over the coming months, all gritting activities will be posted to Suffolk Highways’ X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook and Instagram accounts – so I encourage you to give us a follow and keep abreast of all our team's movements this winter season.
More information on gritting can be found on the county council website, and details of which roads are gritted can be found on one.network, by selecting the 3 lines on the search box, then data layers, driver information then winter gritting routes.
Suffolk Highways’ winter gritting efforts forms part of the county council’s wider ‘Winter Matters’ campaign, which launched last week, which offers advice to help Suffolk residents stay warm, safe and well this winter.
From stopping the spread of winter illnesses, to heating your home for less, residents can find advice at www.suffolk.gov.uk/wintermatters to help you and your loved ones look after your money, health, wellbeing and safety during the colder months.
Information will be regularly shared on the council’s social media channels throughout winter, follow Suffolk County Council on Facebook or @SuffolkCC on X, using the hashtag #WinterMatters.
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