Winter service
What is winter service?
Winter service is snow and ice clearance, or the precautionary spreading of salt on highways to prevent ice from forming. As a caring council we wish to reduce the impact bad weather has on residents and users of the borough's highways by achieiving the following aims:
- Minimise the loss of life and injury to highway users, including pedestrians, and preventing damage to vehicles and otehr property.
- Keep the highway free from obstruction aqnd thereby avoid unnecessary hinderance to travel.
What can I expect from winter service?
The full winter service operates from the 1 November to 31 March the following year. A limited response to bad weather is also available in October and April.
View the draft Winter Service Operational Plan 2008/2009 (PDF 322KB)
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Sixteen routes have been identified for the precautionary application of salt when weather conditions demand it. They are divided into two categories:
- Priority one - eight routes - these are the main roads which carry heavy traffic
- Priority two - eight routes - these are the more important secondary routes such as most bus and commuter routes
The total length of roads in the borough is approximately 532 miles (856km) of which 267 miles (430km) are salted; this is equivalent to 50.1% of the roads in the borough.
Footways and minor roads are not routinely treated, but snow and ice removal is undertaken if possible where normal council duties are prevented, such as road repairs or grounds maintenance.
How does it work?
We receive weather forecasts from the MeteoGroup UK Road Cast service, which uses data from road sensors throughout the West Midlands. The decision to spread salt on roads depends on a number of factors, not just air temperature. We follow the procedure recommended in the Code of Practice for Maintenance Management – Well-maintained Highways.
Roads are salted in order of importance: primary routes are salted before secondary. Our target is to salt priority one routes in two hours and priority two routes in four hours.
These 16 routes also have priority for snow clearing. Minor roads and footways will not be cleared until primary and secondary routes are reasonably clear and remaining so.
Self help grit bins containing salt may be placed adjacent to minor roads and where there are hazardous conditions, for example sharp bends or steep slopes. They are not provided on demand because of the cost and their susceptibility to misuse.
What do you expect from me?
- Remember rules 203-206 in the Highway Code about driving in icy and snowy weather; they help to ensure your safety and that of other road users and pedestrians
- Please ensure that your vehicle is serviced for the winter with enough anti-freeze, tyres with the right depth of tread, and effective windscreen wipers and washers
- In bad weather listen to local traffic and weather reports before your journey, and then consider if your journey is essential
- In poor conditions keep your speed down, use dipped headlights, look out for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists and leave plenty of room in front of you – up to ten times the normal distance may be required if you have to stop
- Be aware that a road may not be treated along its whole length and that treatment does not guarantee that the road is free of ice and snow
Contact us
Roadworks Management
Engineering & Transportation
Civic Centre
Darwall Street
Walsall
WS1 1DG
Telephone 01922 653781
Email parrym@walsall.gov.uk
Online contact form for general enquiries, compliments and complaints.