Winter road plan for Caithness approved
The priorities by which The Highland Council will treat roads in Caithness this winter have been approved.
At the Caithness Committee meeting held on Monday 12 August 2024, members agreed a winter maintenance plan for the area which includes priority road lists and maps showing the priority gritting routes.
Across Caithness there are 135kms of Primary routes, 222km of Secondary routes and 49km of Other routes and these will be treated using 10 front-line gritters. Six footpath tractors will also be available. In exceptional situations, local contractors are available who can supply equipment and operators to assist in clearing deep snow at short notice.
The winter service will be delivered seven days a week when conditions dictate with operations begining at 06.00hrs and can continue to 21.00hrs. Primary routes are treated first, followed by Secondary routes and crews will only move on to treat Other roads when the Primary and Secondary routes are all completed.
A Duty Officer rota will be in place to ensure that there is always a suitably qualified and experienced member of staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to take decisions on the deployment of appropriate resources to deal with the prevailing weather conditions.
The average annual usage of salt for the Caithness area is around 6,000 tonnes and the Council is well prepared with sufficient salt in all its depots.
Caithness Committee Vice-Chair Cllr Struan Mackie said: “Each year local areas put in place their own Winter Maintenance Plan to cover the operational details to deliver a service locally within existing budget and resources.
“To prepare for winter in Caithness requires a great amount of planning to ensure that the gritting policy, winter maintenance team and the equipment and supplies required are in place and ready to be implemented when the winter weather arrives.
“We have approved the list of priority routes for treatment, and I would encourage people to familiarise themselves with the gritting maps for their local area. It isn’t possible to treat every road and path, however, we have a dedicated and hard-working team of staff who always rise to the challenge of providing the best service possible even in the most extreme weather conditions.”
He added: “As in previous years we are keen to encourage communities to “self-help” as much as possible and to be aware of people within their local community who may need assistance from neighbours in clearing snow and ice or possibly shopping or accessing health and social services during extreme weather conditions.”
Community self-help is being encouraged under the Councils Winter Resilience scheme whereby communities can submit an application via their community council to carry out footway gritting operations within an agreed area. The Council will provide the community with salt/grit, bins, scrapers, and reflective waistcoats. This does not replace the service provided by the Council but allows the community to provide an enhanced level of service.
The Policy information is provided on the “Winter Road Maintenance” pages on the Council’s website