A9 road teams at Bear Scotland ready to grit and bear it this winter
Roads teams covering Caithness and the north are ready to get into action as temperatures drop this winter.
Bear Scotland says its north-west operatives, who maintain the trunk roads in the region including the A9 to Scrabster and the A99 to Wick, are set to keep people moving this winter.
Transport Scotland’s operating company has a winter fleet of 59 vehicles, including 29 frontline spreaders and 18 patrol spreaders. These spreaders will be on hand for the duration of the winter period to treat the 1422km trunk roads in the area.
A total of 35,000 tonnes of salt is distributed to the 13 depots waiting until it gets loaded into some of the largest spreaders in the UK.
More than 90 operatives will be working throughout the colder months ahead to keep roads moving. Many of these operatives will be in the frontline vehicles conducting precautionary treatments to prevent ice forming. These treatments see them spread pre-wetted salt on routes that are expected to experience low temperatures.
Other operatives will be in the patrol vehicles, monitoring conditions and carrying out reactive salting as required. Footways will also be sprayed with brine to keep them free from ice.
Central to Bear Scotland’s winter strategy is its 24/7 network hub control room and a dedicated winter team which analyses detailed weather forecasts and road temperatures to ensure treatments are carried out as necessary.
Iain Murray, Bear Scotland’s managing director, said: “Our team will be working tirelessly throughout the winter period to keep Scotland’s key routes operating.
“Our main priority is always to ensure roads are as safe as possible for motorists to travel on, and our dedicated team will be doing all they can in the months ahead to make that happen.
“It’s important that road users play their part, too. Now is the time to ensure vehicles are well maintained. And as we head into winter, it’s essential that anyone travelling pays close attention to traffic updates and weather forecasts to allow for sufficient planning and time for their journeys.”
Members of the public can live track gritters on the trunk road network using Transport Scotland’s online ‘trunk road gritter tracker’. It displays the current location of gritters and where they have recently treated throughout Scotland.
Last year Bear Scotland used over 35,000 tonnes of salt and over 5000 individual winter actions were undertaken.
The winter service period will typically run from October 1 to May 15 each year but can be extended should conditions dictate.
