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Members of Perth & Kinross Council’s Enterprise & Infrastructure Committee will receive an update on the Council’s winter service arrangements for 2015/2016 at its next meeting on Wednesday 9 September 2015.
The Committee will focus on plans for the gritting and snow clearing of roads and footways across Perth and Kinross this winter.
Winter service will operate from 12 October 2015 and 10 April 2016 during which time the Council will closely monitor road and weather conditions.
All roads and footways in Perth and Kinross are categorised according to their relative importance. More resources are allocated to the most heavily used roads and footways to ensure that the safety of the public is maximised and that accessibility is maintained on these routes.
Almost 900km of the Council’s 2500km road network is designated as having high priority for winter service. As priority routes, these roads receive precautionary treatment in a bid to keep them ice-free however this cannot always be guaranteed. The Council operates a similar service on pavements in areas of high footfall.
In severe weather, higher priority routes may have to be treated several times before to lower priority roads to ensure that the limited resource is as widely spread as possible. This means lower levels of treatment have to be used on non-priority roads and footways.
A brine solution instead of traditional rock salt will be used as a de-icing treatment in some parts of Perth. Feedback from using this last year was good so its use will be extended this year.
In the region of 1300 grit bins are provided across Perth and Kinross. The grit bins are provided for use on public roads and not private areas. The high number of grit bins are provided to encourage communities to self-help as some minor roads cannot be treated routinely due to budget allocation.
To deal with snow there has been investment in five new gritters, new footway tractors to add to the existing fleet. In addition a purpose built snow blower based in Blairgowrie, primarily but not exclusively, to cover the A93 Glenshee.
Convener of Perth & Kinross Council’s Enterprise & Infrastructure Committee, Councillor John Kellas commented:
“To ensure our winter programme is efficient we continue to look at innovative approaches and where we are confident new treatment methods such as brine solution can be beneficial, we will endeavour to use them in our area if feasible.
” I would also ask our residents to help where possible. The responsibility for the roads and footpath network is huge and any assistance that can be provided by local people is always welcomed.
“We are committed to ensuring that our winter maintenance programme makes the most efficient use of resources and is the best it can be, to give our residents peace of mind if it is absolutely necessary for them to travel during adverse weather conditions. There is no room complacency when it comes to the planning for winter weather.”
