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Gritting Teams Hit The Roads As Temperatures Drop

The county council is reassuring motorists that its winter maintenance team are monitoring conditions 24/7 and its full fleet of 43 hi-tech gritters are salting priority routes countywide. However, it also warns that although salt can be a huge help, it is not a cure, and has issued some top winter safety tips.

David Davies, Principal Maintenance Engineer at Lincolnshire County Council, said:
“Our full fleet of 43 hi-tech gritting vehicles are on 24/7 standby, constantly monitoring conditions through roadside sensors, weather stations and regular information from the Met Office.

“We’re ready to treat 3008 km (1870 miles) of the county’s priority road networks, which includes all A and B-roads. The Highways Agency also cover 92km (52 miles) including the A1 and A46 to Lincoln. This means that over 35% of Lincolnshire’s roads will be treated as required.

“However, despite this excellent service we still strongly urge all motorists to drive carefully during the winter period, whether a route has been treated or not. Even salted roads are not always completely safe - salt can be a big help, but is not a complete cure.”

The authority has a healthy 30,000 tonnes of salt in stock with the option to order more if required over the winter. Lincolnshire’s salt comes from Egypt - a marine salt of higher purity. Through a combination of roadside sensors, Met Office information, weather stations and traffic cameras, the county council constantly monitor conditions and pre-treat roads when the temperature is expected to fall to 1 degree with a chance of it hitting freezing.

However, drivers are advised not to be complacent and follow a number of safety tips to protect themselves too.

For further information, including maps of the county’s gritting routes and advice on winter driving, please visit our Winter Salting of Roads in Lincolnshire page (link below).

Article Published: 29/11/2010

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