Winter maintenance of roads and paths
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North Tyneside Council's winter maintenance plan aims to enable the safe movement of traffic throughout the borough and keep delays to a minimum on the treated network.
The Met Office provides us with three weather forecasts each day, which includes road surface temperature information.
We also have strategically placed road temperature sensors to aid our decision making process.
Once weather conditions dictate, we salt over 240 miles of priority routes across the borough.
Salt is used as a de-icing agent because it is the most cost effective means of treatment.
Pre-salting is the application of rock salt to carriageways to prevent frost and ice forming on the road surface. It is carried out in advance of frosty conditions normally between 6pm and 10pm. Pre-salting is dependent on road surface temperature, dampness of the road service, as well as air temperature and humidity
Early morning salting is carried out between 5am and 8am following rain through the night that could have washed the salt off the carriageway.
During prolonged periods of frosty weather and if resources permit, there may also be the treatment of pathways in certain areas, such as near schools and sheltered accommodation.
If necessary, snow clearing will also take place. This is the removal of significant accumulations of snow from carriageways by the use of snow ploughs, other heavy machines and manual labour.
Snow clearing and pre-salting will only be carried out on lower priority roads when the main priority roads are cleared.
The A19 is salted and cleared by the Highways Agency and is not the responsibility of North Tyneside Council.
Winter safety advice
Avoid travel if possible. If you go outside wear several layers of clothing and keep dry to prevent any loss of body heat.
Driving during wintry weather conditions:
- Ask yourself - is your journey absolutely essential?
- Check the local and national weather forecast.
- Listen to local and national radio for travel information.
- Clear your windows and mirrors before you set out and carry a screen scraper and de-icer.
If you get into trouble:
On a motorway, it is best to use a roadside emergency telephone, as the breakdown/emergency services will be able to locate you easily. If you have to use a mobile phone, make sure you know your location from the numbers on the marker posts on the side of the hard shoulder.
If you leave your vehicle to get help, make sure other drivers can see you.
After snow and ice:
Be careful when walking on compacted snow - it may have turned to ice.
Take care when shovelling snow. Cold air makes it harder to work and breathe.