In light of recent weather forecasts, Denbighshire is informing residents and motorists that the council is fully prepared for the winter weather.
Before a cold snap hits this winter, Denbighshire highways teams have been busy taking deliveries of enough grit to keep the county’s roads clear – 7,450 tonnes. Further deliveries will be taken as and when the need arises throughout the winter months.
Coun Eryl Williams, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: “Every year our highways teams work all hours to ensure our roads remain as free from snow and ice as possible and I commend them for the work they do.
“Last year saw an unprecedented and prolonged cold snap which did deplete our salt stocks somewhat although we did not run out unlike other counties across the UK.
“This year we have increased the amount we have in stock in order to make sure we don’t run out should we have similar weather this winter.”
Every year, Denbighshire’s highways teams spread salt to prevent ice from forming on almost 400 miles of road on every night when frost or icy conditions are forecast. The full extent of the gritting network can be seen on the Denbighshire County Council website.
Pre-salting is normally carried out at either 6pm or 6am dependant on the exact time of freezing and is timed to miss the peak traffic times and our 12 gritters aim to complete their routes within 2.5 hours. We all have two spare gritters available to us in case of breakdowns.
No matter how accurate the forecast, there are situations when gritting teams cannot salt the roads prior to the onset of icy conditions:
- When rain is followed by rapidly clearing skies, salting is normally deferred until the rain stops to prevent it being washed off.
- Dawn frost occurs on dry roads. When early morning dew falls on a cold road and freezes on impact. It is impossible to forecast with any accuracy when this will occur.
- Rush hour snowfall. When rain turns to snow coinciding with rush hour traffic early salting cannot take place as it would wash off and gritters cannot make progress due to traffic congestion.
In these circumstances drivers are asked to take additional care.
