Cheshire East Council's highways teams will be working around the clock this winter to keep the Borough's roads safe for motorists.
Cheshire East highways teams treat a total of 1,090km of primary roads across the Borough's network when ice or snow conditions are forecast.
There are 19 primary gritting routes and a fleet of 21 frontline gritters which operate from two bases, including directly from Winsford salt mine. A normal gritting route takes approximately four hours and the aim is to complete all these routes before 7am, although rain could delay treatment.
Cheshire East staff work closely with neighbouring authorities to ensure that a consistent level of service is provided to roads that cross local authority boundaries.
Councillor David Brown, Deputy Leader for Cheshire East Council and Cabinet member in charge of highways, said: "We will be continually monitoring weather conditions throughout the winter months so that we are ready to deal with snow and ice on our main roads. Our gritter drivers will be out in all weather conditions to keep our highways as safe as possible.
"In the same way that we as a Council are ready for winter, I would urge residents to make sure their vehicles are prepared for winter and that people ensure that they tailor their driving and speed to match the road conditions at all times."
The gritting fleet has a GPS navigation system, which records vehicles' locations and can be tracked live by members of the public using Cheshire East's winter service webpage.
Approximately 10,000 tonnes of rock salt is used to treat the highways network in an average winter, 3,700 tonnes of rock salt is stored locally and regularly replenished during the winter season.
Photo: (l-r) Councillor David Brown, Cheshire East Council's head of communities Steph Cordon and Cheshire East highways' service leader Chris Shields.
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