Highways crews have worked around the clock throughout the winter period to keep Staffordshire’s roads safe, gritting the equivalent of 80,000 miles. 

From October, 64 drivers rolled out in their gritters to treat the county’s road network when temperatures plunged and snowy spells hit.  

Amongst those drivers were the Moorlands’ hill contractors, who were on hand to treat higher grounds that often see the worst of icy weather. 

Over 13,800 tonnes of salt was used to treat 80,670 miles of Staffordshire’s roads across the entire winter period. That is enough salt to fill 4,600 swimming pools. 

Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for strategic highways, Mark Deaville, said: “I want to thank our hard-working highways crews who have been on hand day and night to clear our county’s roads throughout the winter. 

“Their efforts kept Staffordshire moving, ensured we could travel to work safely and take our children to and from school when adverse weather hit. 

“With temperatures starting to warm up, we can now ramp up our pothole repairs and look ahead to the string of major road reconstruction schemes we have planned for this year. Sign up to our monthly Highways newsletter to be kept up to date on all our latest road improvement projects.” 

In addition to Staffordshire County Council’s £53 million annual highways spend, a further £50 million is being invested into improving the county’s roads over the next three years. 

(Picture – © Stoke Sentinel)