With a new fleet of gritting vehicles, a freshly built salt barn, 60 specialist drivers and over 10,000tonnes of road salt, Oxfordshire is ready for winter.

Oxfordshire County Council and its highways maintenance contractor, Milestone Infrastructure, have worked hard to ensure that the county’s roads keep moving and stay safe when the colder weather hits – as it did earlier this week – while also reducing long-term costs and environmental impacts.

The new salt barn at the Deddington highways depot, near Banbury, was built by Ryebridge Construction on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council. The barn keeps road salt in the optimum conditions for spreading, both avoiding wastage and ensuring that the salt is more effective, so smaller quantities can be used.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “We are committed to keeping our network of major roads free from ice and snow to minimise the risk of accidents and ensure the smooth flow of traffic. This investment in new equipment and skills demonstrates how serious we are about it.”

The new Deddington barn can hold 2,800 tonnes of road salt, enough to grit over 23,333km of roads. The roof is fitted with solar panels, generating approximately 50kw power for the grid.

With the completion of the salt barn project, there is now no uncovered road salt stored in Oxfordshire, putting the county ahead of many other local authorities. Oxfordshire has a 5,500 tonne capacity salt barn at the Drayton highways depot, near Abingdon, which was opened in 2018, and a 2,200 tonne capacity barn sited at the Woodcote winter depot in south Oxfordshire.

With more than 10,000tonnes of salt stored across the county, the council’s winter maintenance team is more prepared than ever.

Oxfordshire’s winter preparations have also been boosted by the arrival of a new fleet of gritting vehicles, consisting of 16 26 tonne trucks, 11 18 tonne vehicles, two 7.5 tonne trucks and one 3.5 tonne ‘baby gritter’, to treat very narrow roads and the park and rides. In total, 30 vehicles are stationed at three winter depots across the county, ready for when the temperatures drop.

The winter service crew of 60 highly skilled drivers have all undertaken familiarisation sessions to get them used to the new trucks and some drivers have also completed additional skid pan training at a specialist training centre in Hampshire.

Richard Lovewell, Milestone Infrastructure Business Director said: “Keeping Oxfordshire’s roads safe and mobile throughout the winter is a top priority for Milestone. With Oxfordshire County Council, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to ensure that the county is well prepared, no matter what the weather holds.

“With the new salt barn and gritter fleet, over 10,000 tonnes of salt in stock and 60 expert drivers on standby across the county, we’re all set for when the temperatures drop. Thanks to all the staff who have gone above and beyond to ensure we are ‘winter ready’ and especially to those who go out every year in challenging conditions to keep our network moving.”

Oxfordshire County Council salts approximately 42 per cent of Oxfordshire’s road network, one of the highest rates in the country.

While Oxford City Council looks after the gritting inside the Oxford ring road, Oxfordshire County Council has responsibility for the rest of the county – including all A roads, B roads and some C roads, apart from the M40, A43 and A34, which are covered by National Highways.

Gritter drivers treat 26 routes across the county in each gritting session, covering over 3,500km in total, of which 1,960km (1,200 miles) are salted – that’s the equivalent of travelling from London to Iceland.

Cllr Gant added: “While we make great efforts to keep roads clear in winter, drivers must never assume that a road will be free from ice and should adjust their driving to suit the conditions. If you do find yourself behind one of our gritter lorries, which are restricted to 30mph when they are carrying out their work, please be patient and considerate – remember that they are there to keep you safe.”

Last winter, which was relatively mild, the gritters were sent out 25 times between November 2023 and March 2024, with around 4,523 tonnes of salt spread on Oxfordshire’s roads. The average number of treatments over the past six years is 37.