Hampshire's gritting lorries at the ready during cold snap

With more snow and ice forecast this week, Hampshire County Council says that highways teams will be out through the night to ensure the county’s main roads are salted ahead of the morning rush hour.
Salting lorries will be treating priority one routes which carry the majority of traffic and include A roads, some B roads, major bus routes, roads to emergency services, large schools and public transport areas.
Priority two routes, which include the remaining B roads and single access roads to villages, have also been treated, as have community routes, which include roads to smaller schools, GP surgeries and local shops.
Councillor Seán Woodward, (Con, Fareham Sarisbury), the county council’s executive member for economy, transport and environment, said: “If the forecast is correct, Hampshire is in for a cold week and our highways teams are preparing for some busy nights.
“We have a good stock of salt in the barns across Hampshire, and teams will be out making sure routes are salted in time for everyone to get to work and school this week.
“I would, however, ask residents to take particular care if they are setting off early to work as it seems that temperatures are set to drop.
“Even if we don’t see much snow, we can expect ice to form and so I would urge people to drive according to the conditions at all times.”
Weather forecasts, road and air temperatures are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week from October to April.
So far this winter, the county council has used 5,000 tonnes of salt and it can take approximately three hours to treat a priority one route.
The county council is urging people to keep a neighbourly eye on older and vulnerable residents living near to them.
This is especially important in rural communities where not everyone has access to mains gas and communications can be affected.
Any concerns about a neighbour can be reported by telephoning 0300 555 1386.
For updates on road salting in Hampshire visit Hampshire County Council's twitter feed: @hantsconnect or @hantshighways.