When Darlington's roads are in the icy grip of winter weather our Highway Maintenance and Street Scene winter maintenance team is out at all hours aiming to keep roads safe and ice-free.
The team work on a shift system, with a fleet of nine gritter vehicles on standby from October to April, they are ready to react at the first sight of bad weather providing services for over 300 kilometres of roads in Darlington Borough. These roads are the main roads and bus routes within the town.
Throughout the winter we receive several daily weather forecasts from the Met Office to inform us of the condition of the roads.
Winter Damage to the Highway Network
The severe winter weather of 2009 and 2010 has been identified as the worst for 30 years and has had an adverse affect on the condition of the national and local road network. In recognition of the difficulties faced by highway authorities the Department of Transport provided additional funding of £100 million in 2009/10 and £200 million in 2010/11. This resulted in a grant of £147,000 in 2010 and £375,577 in 2011 for Darlington which was used to supplement the highways maintenance budgets. The following works were carried out in 2010 and 2011 to repair and seal areas to prevent further deterioration in coming winters.
Highway repairs [pdf document]
Salting the roads
Once the decision to salt the roads has been taken the Council's fleet of gritters is deployed to salt the road network in full or in part. Most people do not see the gritters in action because their work is usually done by 7.30am on weekdays and Saturdays and by 8.30am on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Evening salting takes place at any time between 5pm and 11pm depending on the weather and the forecast conditions. Salt is used as the de-icing agent because it is the most cost effective means of treatment.
Apart from the main shopping areas and some busy streets in the town, footpaths and cycleways are not routinely treated during frosty conditions unless the weather is very bad for a prolonged period of time and resources permit.
The salting teams carry out pre-salting (where salt is spread to prevent ice forming) and post-salting (where salt is spread to melt ice and snow which has already formed) on 61 per cent of the 534 kilometres of the Borough's highway network. Cross border agreements have been made with neighbouring Councils to ensure that the routes are as efficient as possible. Trunk roads such as the A66 and the A1(M) motorway are salted by AOne on behalf of the Highways Agency.
Snow
During and after heavy snowstorms the highways maintenance team will be battling to keep roads clear for emergency services, industrial traffic and public transport. Any significant build up of snow will be cleared using snow ploughs, other heavy machines or manual labour. Minor roads may not be treated until essential routes are cleared.
Once resources become available snow will be cleared from main shopping areas and busy roads in the Town. Footpaths and cycle ways will only be cleared in emergencies.
Although every effort is made to provide a complete service on the treated road network sometimes freak weather conditions make it impossible to pre-plan action. When this happens we will react as quickly as possible but ice is much more difficult to remove once it has formed.
Winter Driving
There is information about driving in winter and hazardous weather conditions on the DirectGov website [external link]
Advice on clearing snow and ice
When clearing snow and ice from untreated footways adjacent to properties residents must take care for their own safety and avoid making the situation more hazardous for other highway users.
Below are a few helpful hints:
- Try to avoid piling snow and ice in a way that could block or obstruct the footway or road
- Use grit from highway grit bins wherever possible
- Avoid using water as it may form ice and make the situation worse.
The government has written a Snow Code [external link] providing advice and guidance