Island Roads’ gritters made 40 runs depositing 830 tonnes of salt on the network during the ‘official’ 2024/25 winter maintenance season.
That compares to 32 runs using nearly 479 tonnes of salt the previous season.
Though the number of runs was up on the previous season, the figures point to a comparatively mild season with many of the runs coming in the last few weeks when the clear skies that brought some warm, sunny daytime weather during March also meant some chilly nights and early mornings.
Though there were only eight more runs during the season compared to 2023/24, there was a marked increase in the amount of salt used. This was because run-off from fields and adjoining land meant there were many locations that needed more intense gritting over the season.
This year also saw the debuts of Island Roads’ new gritting fleet named by local schoolchildren.
Dave Wallis, Island Roads operation and maintenance manager, said: “Everyone at Island Roads would like to publicly thank our winter maintenance colleagues who once again faced some difficult conditions, often late at night and early in the morning, to keep the network safe.
“We’d also like to thank the schools who took part in the gritter naming competition – we really enjoyed going out to these schools to meet the pupils involved in the naming. It was great fun and we were really impressed just how engaged and knowledgeable the pupils were.”
Though the official winter maintenance season – which runs between October and April – is now at an end, Island Roads will continue to monitor weather forecasts and will be ready to respond should there be an unseasonal cold snap.
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