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Plenty of grit, determination and planning from Highways Team keeps city’s roads moving

Gritters Stoke on Trent Published: Thursday, 16th January 2025

Highways gritting teams have covered hundreds of miles, spread hundreds of tonnes of grit and refilled hundreds of grit bins over the last few weeks to keep the city moving during wintery conditions.

All eight gritters have been out on 40 different gritting runs across key routes in the city since mid-November (18/11/24).

During the latest cold snap – which started on 4 January as Met Office Amber and Yellow warnings for snow, ice and freezing temperatures were issued, and is one of the most challenging periods the team has faced – all eight gritters have been out 23 times and dropped around 700 tonnes of grit in the process.

Meanwhile, around 700 grit bins were also refilled to help with conditions affecting side streets and pavements.

The city council Highways Team’s fleet grits on principal roads, classified roads, important access roads and most bus routes. Routes also cover critical areas such as those around hospitals, fire and police stations.

During each gritting session the eight gritters cover around 35 miles each (taking around two and a half hours each to do so). They can lay close to 200 tonnes of grit on the city’s highways during one evening if carrying out multiple runs in severe weather.

The council will now be carrying out a review of its performance to see what efficiency improvements it can introduce moving forward.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker – Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Regeneration at Stoke-on-Trent City Council – said: “The tireless efforts of our Highways Team have kept the city moving over the last few days as well as and on several occasions when wintery conditions have struck since the middle of November.

“Nothing is left to chance and everything is intricately planned so the gritting teams are ready to go at a moment’s notice. It includes constant monitoring of the weather, having the high-quality gritting machines ready for action and having tonnes and tonnes of grit ready to go.

“It also takes plenty of determination from our Highways Team who can be called upon to cover lengthy routes – sometimes several times a night in severe weather – to keep the roads in good condition for motorists.

“However, we are always looking to improve and the upcoming review will help us to make our performance even better as we prepare for future wintery condition affecting our roads.”