Archive Council News

This page is a news release published by Wrexham County Borough Council.
Content Author: pressoffice@wrexham.gov.uk

04 January 2010

Gritting 2010

The prolonged icy conditions on our roads is set to stay for some time yet and Wrexham Council workers are continuing to work extremely hard to ensure the county borough’s roads are kept as clear as possible.

The current cold snap has lasted almost continually since 9 December during which approximately 40% of the council road network amounting to almost 500 kilometres of roads have been kept clear of ice and snow.  The work has been carried out using the council’s gritting fleet with over 50 members of staff involved in the operation.  During this period over 3,000 tonnes of rocksalt has been put onto our roads.

Salt supplies are being monitored throughout the UK and the supply of salt to local authorities is being coordinated at a national level.  Wrexham’s salt supplies are currently adequate.

Wrexham has a Winter Maintenance Policy which prioritises roads for treatment.

  • Priority 1 roads are routes carrying substantial volumes of traffic having characteristics which require protection from frost throughout the night. These routes include both Class A and B roads.

  • Priority 2 roads are non principal roads that form main distributor routes in urban areas, access routes to smaller rural communities and schools, industrial estate roads and remaining bus routes. Height above sea level and gradients are factors in distinguishing these roads from priority 3 roads.

  • Priority 3 roads are all the remaining and treatment will normally be restricted to snow clearance or salting in times of snow or persistent heavy frost. Snow clearance may be carried out by either Wrexham County Borough Council or by contractors retained on term contracts.

In snow conditions Priority 1 roads will be cleared first followed by Priority 2 and 3.

John Bradbury, Chief Environment Officer, said:

“Our winter maintenance policy clearly sets out what roads are a priority for gritting and when to grit non priority routes.  I am pleased to say that to date we have applied this policy and our main roads have received several thousand tonnes of salt.  Side roads too are gritted under the policy during prolonged periods of snow and ice and this has been taking place as resources become available.”

Cllr David Bithell, Lead Member for the Environment and Transport, said:

“Staff have been working incredibly hard to ensure that as many roads as possible are salted.  Salt, however, only has a life span of 8 hours and the gritters have to return to those priority areas to keep the roads clear of ice.  We understand that some residents are concerned about their particular areas and we would like to reassure them that we will continue to salt in accordance with the resources available to us,

During the cold spell residents are advised to heed all traffic and weather warnings and prepare adequately for any journey they have to make.  They are also encouraged to offer help or assistance to any vulnerable or elderly residents they are aware of who may be unable to get out and about during this time.

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