Temperatures plummeted over the last few weeks, which has meant our dedicated winter service teams have been working around the clock to help keep Staffordshire's roads moving.

Gritting crews are out regularly and are on stand by day and night, ready to take further action when needed. Gritters will continue to focus on major routes and extend to the wider network in prolonged ice and snow conditions.

In total we have 34 primary routes and 21 extended routes to cover across the county, with a gritting run taking on average between 2.5-3 hours. This year we have undertaken a combined total of 559 treatments so far -  which is over 30,000 km of road treated and over 3200 tonnes of salt used. 

You can find out more about where the teams grit and how to prepare for winter at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/winter.

The council provides more than 3,000 salt bins across the county which have been strategically placed for communities to use during bad weather.

Grit bins are for highways, not for people’s driveways. When using salt to treat the road, only small amounts are required and if spread sparingly and only during prolonged periods of adverse weather, the contents of the bin should last a typical winter.

Further information, including when grit bins are refilled and where to find your nearest grit bin, can be found on our grit bin webpages and under frequently asked questions. 

On Monday the 28th November a team took on the challenge of clearing the land to the rear of the Wedges Mills community centre to create allotment spaces.

The team scraped back scrubland to the rear of the centre, built ten allotment plots, and also scraped back and levelled the carpark area using reclaimed materials.

Most of the allotment spaces have now been taken on by the local community providing opportunities to grow their own produce.

This is just one of several community projects Amey have been undertaking across Staffordshire, and we will be bringing you more details of these in future bulletins.

Despite the cold weather conditions, our highway teams have still been able to repair more than 900 defects in December so far. 74 of these were emergencies and were completed within 24 hours.

Whilst lots of families are tucking into their Christmas dinner, our on-call highway inspectors and winter crews will still be working, making sure that the roads are as safe as possible. This includes everything from carrying out emergency repairs, gritting when the temperature drops, and other activities such as removing fallen trees in the event of high winds.

We'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Staffordshire County Council Highways.