Surrey County Council Operation Continues to Keep Roads Clear

Published on: 27 Feb, 2018
Updated on: 28 Feb, 2018

Surrey County Council Gritting Lorry

Freezing eastern winds have brought a late blast of winter weather to Britain and is causing travel disruption in the South East. In Guildford more snow fell yesterday (February 27, 2018) and overnight.

Later, a county councillor has appealed for some community spirit. Colin Kemp, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “We’re ready to tackle severe weather but if residents support us by looking out for vulnerable neighbours or clearing snow around their home things will be much better for the county as a whole.”

And Surrey County Council has tweeted ten things you didn’t know about gritting and the county council’s winter operation.

More than 14,500 tonnes of salt was stockpiled by the council before winter
There are 39 gritters in Surrey’s fleet
They have covered more than 60,000 miles of roads so far this winter
A typical gritting lorry run covers around 35 miles
Roadside weather stations are used to help plan gritting runs.
Although it’s called grit, what is used on roads is salt
Highways England grits motorways and trunk roads in Surrey – for example the M25 and A3
There are more than 1,700 grit bins across Surrey
More than 50 farmers equipped with ploughs are ready to clear routes
Surrey 4×4 Response is standing by to help support vulnerable people.

One of our gritters heading out from the depot at Merrow heading across #Surrey this afternoon #UKSnow pic.twitter.com/1BQqCqyamG

— Surrey News (@SurreyNews) February 26, 2018

Information and advice for residents about dealing with snow can be found on the council’s website. The latest traffic and travel updates are available on Twitter via @SurreyTravel, while the council’s website has information about buses and school transport.

Individual schools make their own decisions to open or close and parents should contact them directly for more details. All confirmed closures will appear on the council’s website.

Social workers are standing by to visit vulnerable people to make sure they are safe and residents are asked to check on neighbours, friends and family as part of the council’s effort to spread a message of teamwork.

Responses to Surrey County Council Operation Continues to Keep Roads Clear

Martin Elliott Reply

February 27, 2018 at 1:12 pm

Another thing is that SCC seems to have a good weather forecaster and understanding of the local conditions.
Despite the hysteria about The Beast From The East, Yellow & Amber alerts being widely promoted in certain news feeds, SCC chose to grit only in East Surrey. Come this morning, despite low temperatures in West Surrey, they got it right.
Charles Hope Reply

February 28, 2018 at 9:35 am

No salt or grit on the A246 through East and West Horsley this morning (Wednesday, February 28).

Oh, I’d like to point out to the driver of the 4×4 who was almost on my bumper, that while those vehicles can get better grip to drive on snow-covered roads than ordinary cars, they usually have worse braking.

This said from experience.