Stirling Council’s road service has officially moved into its programme of winter delivery, which will continue until 12 April 2024.
The Council is responsible for maintaining more than 1000km of roads and over 600km of footways, footpaths and cycleways. A priority-based system of treating roads and footways forms a key part of the Council’s Winter Service Plan.
To keep road users and pedestrians safe, 7,000 tonnes of salt is in stock to help to respond to any critical conditions – in total, 5,911 tonnes were used on roads and footpaths in the Stirling area last winter.
The Council also maintains 537 grit bins across the Stirling area, which will be replenished during or after spells of unfavourable weather, with crews also on hand to treat priority pathways with mini-tractors.
Dedicated
Convener of the Environment, Transport and Net Zero Committee, Cllr Jen Preston, said:
“We appreciate how challenging our weather conditions can be over the winter months and it’s vital that everyone is well prepared. Our committed and dedicated Roads team will do everything possible to keep travel throughout the Stirling area as safe as possible.
“Our gritters are ready, our salt stocks have been replenished and our salt bins will be topped up as frequently as possible for local residents to use. Working with our communities, we will do all we can to keep our roads and paths as clear and accessible as possible.
“This is always a challenging time and we encourage residents to always drive to the conditions and weather, for example – particularly early in the morning. We can grit the roads at 4.30am but if the first car doesn’t drive over the rock salt until 6am, the road can still be dangerous.
“We have a shared responsibility to keep each other safe and we would also encourage residents to plan ahead and follow advice from key agencies such as the Met Office, SEPA, Police Scotland and Transport Scotland. Regular updates, including any impact on Council services, will also be posted on Stirling Council’s social media channels.”
Volunteers have already been invited to come together for their communities across the Council area this winter. The Council’s Winter Community Volunteer Scheme has been expanded after a pilot in Bridge of Allan and Killin last year.
Stirling Council’s Resilience team will also be providing targeted support to rural communities who face different challenges from the city centre when bad weather hits.
Stirling Council’s full Winter Service Plan for 2023/24 includes full details of Priority categories for the roads, footways and footpaths in the Council area.