The Leader of Gwynedd Council has paid tribute to staff who helped keep the county moving during the recent cold snap.
Councillor Dyfed Edwards and Senior Environment Portfolio Leader Councillor Gareth Roberts visited Gwynedd Council’s Highways and Municipal depot at Cibyn in Caernarfon to thank the gritting teams personally for their hard work over the last two months.
The gritting teams were out on the roads for 31 out of 33 days during late December and early January. Around 8,500 tonnes of grit has been spread on the roads over this time.
The gritting teams were working 12 hour shifts when the weather was at its worst and faced snow drifts of some 10 feet deep in some areas. Some of the teams had to work 24 hour shifts over Christmas day to ensure Gwynedd’s roads remained safe.
Around 37% of Gwynedd’s roads are pre-treated with salt and grit by the Council’s Highways and Municipal Service when snow and ice is predicted – this is around 670 miles, the equivalent of driving from Caernarfon to the city of Luxembourg.
Gwyn Morris Jones, Head of Gwynedd Council’s Highways and Municipal, said:
“Though our barns were full to capacity with rock salt at the beginning of the winter, supply was seriously depleted because of the prolonged snap. We had to concentrate on gritting our first priority routes for a period as our suppliers were unable to replenish our stocks.”
Councillor Dyfed Edwards, Leader of Gwynedd Council, added:
“On behalf of the people of Gwynedd I would like to thank the staff who have worked so hard to keep the roads open whatever the weather. Without their effort the county would have come to a stop.”
