Winter gritting in Cheshire East

Cheshire East Council is urging all drivers to take extra care in the wintry conditions and can assure residents and road users that highways teams have carried out repeated gritting operations throughout the borough over the past two days.

When heavy snow has fallen on already treated roads, then a further treatment is required in order to make the roads as safe as possible in the prevailing conditions.

Councillor David Topping, Cabinet member for service commissioning said: "We ask the public to bear with us and encourage motorists to make only necessary journeys when conditions are particularly challenging.

"Snowfall was particularly heavy in the north of the borough and our well planned and prepared response was effective. We have treated our roads with over 400 tonnes of salt and our vehicles have made three treatments of highways with more scheduled for Thursday night and Friday morning.

"We have had nine snow ploughs clearing roads including the A54 and A537 Buxton roads which are still blocked.

"The council's street cleansing teams have been clearing all major footpaths in town centres, around hospitals, railway and bus stations."

Extra resources have been drafted in to ensure that gritting and snow clearing operations are matched to the current demand.

The Met Office are predicting sub-zero temperatures tonight and more snow or sleet is likely tomorrow.

The council's policy is to treat all primary routes first before moving on to minor roads. In the meantime, care should be taken and unnecessary journeys avoided.

At least 20 schools across the borough were forced to close today mostly in the Macclesfield area and parents are advised to check with schools for further updates.

Some bin collections had to be missed because of the weather but residents can be assured that the crews will catch up with them as soon as possible. For further information and updates on gritting, residents can visit the Cheshire East Highways web site at: www.cheshireeasthighways.org/

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.