Wiltshire Council staff keep the county moving through a challenging winter

The council's winter maintenance teams endured difficult conditions, dealing with freezing cold periods each lasting several days with particularly heavy rain and ground water flooding. Weather stations positioned in key areas provide real-time information to duty engineers working 24/7, supported by highways staff and gritting teams on standby ready to be called into action at any time day and night. Equipment is deployed when the road temperatures indicate they will be needed, with salting taking place whenever road temperatures near freezing.

On average it can take up to 140 tonnes of salt to grit Wiltshire's A and B class roads and 230 tonnes to salt an extended list of roads during prolonged cold weather.

Over the winter 2022/2023, the council's fleet of 24 gritters completed a total of 81 gritting runs, in comparison to 41 runs the previous year. Crews distributed 7,836 tonnes of salt on the road to help keep road users safe, in comparison to 5,000 tonnes of salt the previous winter. 

Cllr Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport and Flooding, said: This winter was particularly busy and exposed our winter maintenance teams to tougher conditions than previous years. Our teams and contractors have once again done a great job to help keep our county's road users and residents as safe as possible, with crews treating an incredible 59,130 miles of road.

Our dedicated teams are always geared up and ready to work day and night as required, and we remain prepared for whatever the weather brings.

People are advised to follow the council social media account X: Wiltshire Council (opens new window) for regular updates on both the weather and road conditions.

In cold weather, people can report any winter road or salt bin issues under the weather emergency section of the MyWilts online reporting (opens new window).