‘Plenty of stock left’ despite busy week for gritting crew

THERE is still plenty of gritting stock left despite crews being kept busy over the last week, according to Shetland Islands Council’s roads manager Neil Hutcheson.

He said gritting teams have been on the go for “pretty much a solid week” as snow and cold temperatures continue to affect Shetland’s roads.

A number of accidents have been reported since new year, with many cars going off the road.

Hutcheson said “thankfully it’s coming to the end according to the forecast, so they’ll [gritting staff] get a chance to have a bit of a break again after that”.

He added that a lot of grit was used in the first couple of days of the cold spell, as per guidance, but “since then it’s not quite been so bad” – with plenty left in reserve.

Gritting crews also went out twice on New Year’s Day which made a “big difference”.

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Councillors approved an amended winter road treatment policy a few months ago which saw the return of proactive gritting of priority one roads on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, if required.

The policy is for morning gritting on these two public holidays, but Hutcheson said crews also went out in the afternoon on 1 January.