The council and its street cleansing and winter maintenance partner Veolia are ready to be called into gritting action, so residents and visitors can travel around the City safely this winter.
Veolia’s three gritting vehicles are ready to be called out when needed. Alongside 122 salt bins for residents and businesses to make use of across the City, there’s also over 1,800 tonnes of salt in reserve.
The ‘main route’ gritter spreads nine tonnes of salt per operation and two smaller gritters cover additional routes and both spread five tonnes of salt each per operation.
As well as the roads, Veolia uses small gritting vehicles to keep priority pavements and walkways safe across the Southend-on-Sea.
The council is looking for local residents to support their own communities by becoming a snow warden and committing to grit local pavements and driveways. Free gritting equipment is available to Southend residents who sign the pledge, and a first giveaway session will be taking place between 10am and 3pm at Stock Road Recycling Centre on Saturday 2 December to find out more visit the Veolia website.
Cllr Martin Terry, cabinet member for public protection, said: “Keeping Southend moving whatever the weather is crucial for our residents making essential journeys, our businesses, and emergency services, and we are ready to act when the need arises.
“We are already monitoring the road surface temperatures which gives a good indication as to when roads will need to be gritted.
“I would like to urge all residents to ensure they check their vehicles and road conditions before setting out their journeys, and even then, if conditions are poor, consider waiting until the weather improves, giving our gritters the ability to treat our roads.”
Stuart Atkinson, Senior Contract Manager for Veolia said: “We are delighted to support Southend residents who are keen to give a little bit of their time to look after their community and neighbourhood when the temperatures drop. We’re looking forward to welcoming new volunteers to our Stock Road Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) on Saturday 3 December.
“I’d also like to remind all residents to be patient if they encounter our gritters on the road, the team will be working hard again this winter to ensure road users' safety and we ask that they are treated with all the respect they deserve.”
Residents are also asked to keep an eye on the levels of salt-grit in their local salt bins and report if levels are low. Select ‘bins, recycling and waste’, and then ‘salt bin.’
Visit the Met Office website for updated weather forecasts and weather warnings.
For further information, please visit our Winter Advice web page.