05-11-13 Argyll And Bute Council

Winter press release. 30 October 2013 Argyll and Bute Council is getting ready for winter.....photo of council snowplough March 2013. Argyll and Bute Council is ready for winter – with 33 front line gritters which can also be used as snowploughs, a stock of 11,000 tonnes of rock salt and a trained team ready to treat our roads. The council is responsible for 1455 miles of roads - almost the entire road network. Of those 753 miles are pre-treated as priority routes. The council’s Policy Lead for Roads and Amenity Services, Councillor Ellen Morton said, “There are challenges in keeping our roads clear in Argyll and Bute with its unique geography. However, based on the experience of previous years we have winter standby arrangements in place from now until mid-April next year. “During the forthcoming months if extreme weather does come to Argyll and Bute, we will do everything we can to keep our roads network open.” The council’s vehicles have been serviced and overhauled and trial runs have been made over priority routes. Grit bins are being filled, staff trained and rotas put in place to provide cover seven days a week when required. The council is preparing a winter weather ready leaflet to advise householders and businesses on how to prepare themselves, and information will be readily available on our website and social media. These preparations mirror the national Ready Scotland campaign which urges everyone in Scotland to prepare for winter and severe weather. All routes will be pre-treated with rock salt, as the most effective method of preventing freezing of wet surfaces or melting of previously formed ice. NOTES In Argyll and Bute during the winter 2012/13 there were the equivalent of 106 completed full winter runs, compared to 63 runs in 2011/12 A total of 17,777 Tonnes of salt was recorded as used in all treatments, and increase from the 2010/11 total of 10,430 tonnes The severe weather conditions of late March 2013, although localised mainly to Mid-Argyll, Kintyre and Islay, accounted for 3,500 tonnes BEAR Scotland manage the trunk roads in Argyll and Bute - A82, A85, A828 and A83 as far south as Kennacraig on behalf of Transport Scotland. For information about the Get Ready Scotland campaign go to - http://www.readyscotland.org/ Click HERE to comment to this blog entry. (C)Copyright The Carradale Goat 2010