Sheffield gritters on stand-by as city council gears up for winter

Sheffield’s gritters are on standby as the city council gears up for winter.
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In preparation for plummeting temperatures, the council’s highways contractor Amey has 24 gritting vehicles already on standby, ready to act 24 hours a day to ‘ keep the city moving’.

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With temperatures already starting to drop, the gritters have undergone their annual service to make sure they are ready to hit the roads this winter.

Sheffield City Council is gearing up for winterSheffield City Council is gearing up for winter
Sheffield City Council is gearing up for winter
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Sent out when ice or snow is predicted, the gritters spread grit on icy roads and plough snow off the roads after it falls.

Melissa Wise, Operations Director for Amey’s Streets Ahead project, said: “We grit over 60 per cent of the highway network here in Sheffield – a higher percentage of roads than many other local authorities.

“As well as a team of drivers being on hand ready to take to the roads when the bad weather arrives, we also have a good stock of salt which is used to keep the city moving in snowy conditions.

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“Our gritters have state of the art technology which includes automatic routing, like a Sat Nav, as well as automatic gritting programmes. These all help to improve our gritting service as the navigation system guides the driver along the pre-programmed route and the spreading of grit happens automatically, without manual input.”

Last winter, 7,942 tonnes of grit was spread on on the city’s roads.

Councillor Mark Jones, Cabinet member for Environment, Street Scene and Climate Change at Sheffield City Council, said: “When winter arrives, we never quite know what to expect in Sheffield. Our landscape is exceptionally hilly and we have a large network of roads to maintain and keep moving.

“It’s reassuring to know that when the bad weather strikes, Amey is well prepared and has plans in place to respond accordingly and in a timely manner.

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“But whilst we rely on the winter service to help us travel safely across the city during icy periods, we all still have a responsibility to take extra care, help neighbours, make use of the grit bins and ensure we park our cars appropriately so that the gritting vehicles can get through.”

For more information about gritting routes, grit bin locations and winter advice, visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/winter, call 0114 273 4567 or follow @sccstreetsahead on Twitter.

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