Kent County Council (KCC) staff at highway depots around the county have been rolling out practising the routes they will cover in the months ahead.
This year’s season runs from 20th October 2023 to 19th April 2024, meaning you can expect to see gritters out if temperatures are predicted to dip below 0C.
Last year, our crews regularly covered 58 primary main road routes using 14,445 tonnes of salt.
KCC teams plan the most efficient way to cover their routes by looking at road surface temperature sensor readings from previous years.
This approach ensures primary routes most likely to ice over continue to be the ones that will be treated, reducing the amount of unnecessary gritting.
For more residential areas that are not gritted, there are more than 3,000 salt bins around the county, which have been refilled over the summer where we have been made aware they are empty.
Sufficiently stocking our salt bins means residents can make their own neighbourhoods safe if a cold snap should occur.
Meanwhile the usual messages for drivers remain to make sure their vehicles are ready for winter and motorists drive to the conditions.
“Every winter we rely on our team of hard working gritters to ensure our primary road network is treated when temperatures fall.”
KCC’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Neil Baker, said: “Every winter we rely on our team of hard working gritters to ensure our primary road network is treated when temperatures fall.
“This year we have prepared like every other and have enough salt to see us through the cold months ahead.
“As ever, it is important people take responsibility and ensure their vehicles are safe before they set off.”
Visit www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/what-we-look-after/winter-service to find out how you can make sure you are ready for the winter weather ahead.
You can also search Gritting Kent on Facebook or follow @GrittingKent on Twitter for updates throughout the winter.
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