Winter’s arrived – our teams head out on their first grit of the year

Bury Council’s gritters are heading out at 7.30pm tonight (Wed 3 Nov) on their first run of the season as temperatures are forecast to drop.

The Streetscene winter service team will be in action for months to come, if recent history can be relied on: the first grit run in 2020 was on 22 November, and the last on 12 April.

The team comprises 5 vehicles (1 spare in case of breakdowns), 12 drivers, 4 supervisor/drivers and 4 decision makers. Throughout the season each driver is on standby for 3 nights, followed by 9 nights off.

In preparation for severe weather, Bury Council has a stock of 2,500 tonnes of Safecote treated salt which is stored at Bolton Council’s depot to improve opportunities for sharing resources should the need arise. Safecote salt is used because it is coated with molasses and sticks to the road surface better. It is also less corrosive.

No fewer than 324 salt bins are in place at known trouble spots across the borough, such as where there are sharp bends or steep inclines and where historically snow and ice have caused serious problems. All bins are being re-stocked by Streetscene teams.

Decisions to grit or not grit and how many runs need to be carried out are based on the Winter Forecast Service provided by Metdesk. The service is activated whenever temperatures are predicted to fall below freezing.

Only roads and streets on the official gritting routes are treated, as the service cannot cover all 650 km of road throughout the borough.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “Keeping Bury moving and keeping people safe is a priority, so as winter starts to kick-in our experienced team are ready for action.

“Forecasts will be constantly monitored so that we can pick the best times to send the gritters out and our team will be on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, working through the night until next April.

“Last year we made a total of 67 grit runs treating around 25,000 km of road with 3,000 tonnes of salt. That’s further than from Bury to Mexico and back!”

For more information about the winter service, including a list of treated roads and streets, self-help salt bin locations and advice on clearing ice and snow from pavements, visit www.bury.gov.uk/gritting.

For all the latest updates and alerts from Bury Council follow @BuryCouncil on Twitter.

In the event that severe ice or snow delays bin collections, advice will be posted online at www.bury.gov.uk/bincollections.

ENDS

Press release issued: 3 November 2021.