Council ready for winter

Wiltshire Council is ready to help keep the roads safe this winter.

They are prepared with a winter maintenance team and fleet of specialist vehicles ready to take action to keep the roads safe across the county.

The council's fleet of 24 gritters is on hand to be deployed for when the road temperatures require them, with salting taking place whenever road temperatures near freezing.

Salt is usually used on roads after the evening peak of traffic or before the morning rush, as late evening and early morning are the most likely times that frost and ice affect road surfaces. All key routes in Wiltshire receive precautionary salting when ice is forecast, including motorways, trunk roads and class A and B roads.

People are encouraged to be cautious when the roads may be icy or in severe weather, firstly considering whether a journey is necessary and driving to the conditions of the road. During the winter, roads are treated in order of priority and dependent on conditions, and people are urged not to assume that a road has been gritted, as many of the minor roads will receive no treatment.

The council has 13,000 tonnes of salt in stock, strategically placed throughout the county in six storage sites. It also has weather stations in key areas that provide real-time information and assist in producing accurate forecasts to ensure gritters are sent out at the right time.

On average it can take up to 140 tonnes of salt to grit Wiltshire's A and B class roads and 230 tonnes to salt an extended list of roads during prolonged cold weather.

Did you know, Wiltshire Council ran a competition last year to name their 24 new gritters. Amongst the winning names were Nitty Gritty, Forsty the Gritter, Snowhenge, Gritty Gritty Bang Bang, Gritty Rascal and Buzz Saltyear.

During winter, the council teams share regular updates on both the weather and road conditions on Twitter, and you can follow @WiltshireWinter and the main council account @WiltsCouncil to keep updated.

You can report any winter road or salt bin issues under the weather emergency section of the MyWilts online reporting or via the MyWilts App, available to download from the App Store (Apple) and Google Play (Android).