Gritters at the ready for more snow in Mid Sussex
snow on the bonnet of a car
West Sussex County Council said it was “ready to swing into action” at the weekend in the face the cold snap that hit the area.
The Met Office is forecasting wintry showers again overnight tonight (Monday), accompanied by sub-zero temperatures and the possibility of more sleet and snow.
The county council’s contractor Balfour Beatty was prepared with a fleet of 24 gritting vehicles on standby to grit 21 key routes across the county on Sunday.
About 4,000 tonnes of salt is stockpiled at the four depots located within West Sussex, with more available from suppliers elsewhere in the UK should it be needed.
Hippo bags of salt have been organised for those parishes with arrangements in place to store them.
Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport Pieter Montyn said on Friday: “We are fully prepared for any cold weather and ready to go.
“We constantly monitor the weather conditions and as soon as we see road surface temperatures getting towards zero, we make arrangements.
“If you are out on the roads this weekend, please take care and drive carefully.”
The authority’s priority is to keep major routes treated and passable during severe weather.
These are generally all ‘A’ roads (except the A23 and A27 which are looked after by the Highways Agency), most of the ‘B’ roads and other roads of local importance, such as major bus routes, roads to schools and hospitals and large industrial establishments.
Motorists can sign up to receive online updates about which roads have been gritted.
The ‘Gritter Twitter’ feed will provide updates on the weather, road conditions and gritting activity across the county.
People can sign up for the information on the social networking site Twitter by searching for @WSCCGritting.
Residents can also get severe weather alerts e-mailed to them by signing up to West Sussex County Council’s free ‘Alert Me’ service.
Visit www.westsussex.gov.uk for details.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for West Sussex
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 7 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North
