Council geared up and ready to keep the city moving through winter

Published: 21 November 2016

Glasgow City Council has updated and refined its winter maintenance plan, with improved information on subjects including tackling the effects of severe weather, gritting operations, locations of grit bins and self-help advice.

A range of equipment has been invested in to help keep Glasgow's roads and pavements as free from ice and snow as possible.

This comprises:

•    7 permanently mounted 9m3 road gritting vehicles
•    14 demountable 6m3 road gritting vehicles
•    2 demountable mini road gritters
•    12 road trail gritters
•    19 pavement trail gritters
•    27 road snow ploughs
•    34 trailer pavement gritters
•    9 pedestrian gritters
•    9 large tractor units with mounted gritters and ploughs
•    10 mid-range tractor units with mounted gritters and ploughs
•    22 all-terrain vehicles/small tractor units with mounted gritters and ploughs
•    47 pedestrian mowers with pavement ploughs

Last year, gritting began on 20 November 2015 and continued until April 2016.  There were 56 gritting treatments instructed with 5845 tonnes of de-icer used.

This compares to the 130 treatments and 22,000 tonnes of de-icer used during the severe winter weather in 2010/11.

The de-icer used on priority carriageway routes is a product called Safecote. It can be applied at lower spread rates meaning gritters travel greater treatment distances.

It is less harmful to the environment and is 82% less corrosive to vehicles and the roads themselves.

Arrangements are made every year to ensure the availability of sufficient specialist vehicles, trained operatives and supervisors.  This winter a number of fixed term drivers will be available to supplement 16 permanent nightshift drivers whose primary duty in winter is driving gritting vehicles. When gritting is not required, the fixed term drivers can be used for cleansing, lighting, and any other duties required.

The council's gritting fleet has Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) and automated gritting technology installed. This technology has resulted in efficient routing and gritting, increased route monitoring and improved driver and road user safety.

Bailie Elaine McDougall, the council's executive member for Transport, Environment and Sustainability, said: "The safety of our citizens and keeping Glasgow open for business are two of our biggest priorities throughout winter.

"Our aim is to enable the safe passage of vehicles and pedestrians and minimise delays caused by any severe weather.

"We now have the ability to use as many of our vehicles as possible for gritting and snow clearing by fitting demountable blades and spreaders to everything from trucks to tractors.

"While there are vehicles that people would probably recognise as a gritter or snow plough, we have almost 200 other vehicles designed to be adaptable for winter tasks.

"A total of 53% of the city's roads - 568 miles - are classed as priority routes.  It is important that people understand that we must prioritise the city's main roads and bus routes.  

"Priority routes include those to schools, hospitals, police stations, fire stations, bus depots, city centre precincts, shopping centres outside of the city centre, steep hills, Park & Ride stations and bus stations and garages.

"We have winter controllers on duty around the clock, so action can be taken at the first sign of icy or snowy forecast conditions, however, we want to encourage the public to do their bit to keep themselves and their neighbours mobilised.

"Our winter maintenance plan is available on our website, along with a wealth of information and advice about traffic information, live gritting updates and the locations of the 1386 grit bins located across the city.

"Social media plays an important role and particularly during periods of bad weather as it allows us to keep people up to date with information such as emergency school closures. You can follow us at @GlasgowCC."

The winter maintenance plan and other associated information can be viewed at www.glasgow.gov.uk/winter.