Here’s the latest from Stockport Council on gritting:

A Council spokesman, said: “During the recent cold weather the Council has worked around the clock to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum.

A fleet of eight dedicated highway gritters supported by a fleet of smaller gritting vehicles, tippers and JCB’s are working relentlessly to address the worsening conditions.

Snow and ice gritting operations will continue to be undertaken on the Council’s priority and local feeder roads, which includes bus routes, this is in accordance with the Council’s winter maintenance policy which can be found at www.stockport.gov.uk/transportpolicy

The Council has approximately 300 tonnes of grit in stock which will last for up to eight days in freezing conditions. The Council is also keen to reassure residents that they are in constant contact with the suppliers to ensure that the grit levels will be maintained throughout the winter and further deliveries are expected.

The Council is also in regular contact with other Greater Manchester Authorities to discuss and monitor grit stocks. Road users are also advised to take extra care and refer to the Highways Agency for further advice on traffic disruption on motorways and trunk roads.”

Councillors have been told that gritting will continue on all the priority and local feeder routes but not on smaller residential roads. This is the agreed policy: in common with pretty much every local authority across the country, Stockport aims to keep the main roads and busier car parks and pavements clear.

I don’t know the reasoning behind that, but I would imagine it’s partly down to the amount of salt the Council has. At least one UK council is on the verge of running out of salt due to the severity of the conditions. Stockport has enough for another 8 days, we’re told, but the more roads gritted, the less long the grit will last for.

However, I’m still concerned about certain roads such as Eskdale, where the combination of ice, hills and a lack of grit bins are causing big problems for some residents. I’ve had some (limited) success in getting these gritted just before the New Year, but I don’t know whether we’ll be able to have them done again, or if that will even solve the problem, since grit is least effective when scattered on existing ice on low-traffic roads. We could really do with either more grit bins, or at least piles of grit left on the pavement in key locations.

See also my other posts on this issue, plus the comments made on each:

Report on snow, travel and services for 6th Jan

My experiences of snow and gritting in Stockport

Stockport’s been gritting over the weekend before Christmas

How’s Stockport done on gritting (26th Dec)

Ice in Stockport – now we need to tackle the cul-de-sacs