15/12/2017 - Permalink

Gritter drivers, farmers and contractors praised for keeping the county’s roads clear

Related topics: Highways, transport and environmental maintenance

Snow on road with a car

Dozens of gritter drivers, farmers and contractors have been praised for their efforts to keep Shropshire’s roads clear of snow and ice over the past week.

Since last Friday (8 December 2017 ) Shropshire Council’s 25 gritting lorries – and their Ringway drivers – have spread around 4700 tonnes of salt on more than 950 miles of roads, including the county’s A and B roads, important access routes, and high-risk routes such as those close to schools and hospitals – plus major town centre shopping areas, and heavily-used pavements and cycle paths.

At the same time, more than 100 farmers and contractors across the county have deployed tractor-mounted snowploughs – 27 of which also have tractor-mounted gritters – and 12 snowblowers, to clear snow from the county’s roads.

Since last Friday gritting and snow ploughing has been taking place 24 hours a day.

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:

“Keeping Shropshire moving during a cold snap is a full-time job and there is a dedicated team of people working, often unnoticed and often through the night and around the clock, to help keep the county’s roads open.

“I want to pay tribute to our gritter drivers, and to the farmers and other contractors, who have played such a crucial role in keeping our roads open and traffic moving during the past week.”

Steve Brown, Shropshire Council’s head of highways and environmental maintenance, said:

“The council especially wants to thank the scores of farmers who have cleared snow and turned their tractors into snow ploughs.  They have done an amazing job in very extreme conditions and have made sure that even the smallest roads have been opened as soon as humanly possible.  So, as well as being a key part of our economy, they have also worked to keep the whole economy moving.  We could not have coped without them over these past few days.”

For more information about work to grit and maintain Shropshire’s roads in winter, click here to see our blog and video.