Council’s gritting army swings into action to keep roads clear

AN armada of gritters thwarted the first snows of winter. Oldham Council mobilised their emergency fleet yesterday afternoon, the borough-wide battle plan being masterminded by Craig Dale, the council’s head of a highways operations, liaising with manager, Geoff Roberts, who supervised the on-the-ground team activities.

Craig, a veteran of unpredictable moorland storms, said today: “We just about had everything overnight.

“Hail, sleet, rain, ice and snow — but all roads over the tops are open and our gritters are still out working. We had the gritters out from Sunday afternoon following updates from Met Office.

“We were warned to expect snow after 9 o’clock last night. Our difficulty was pre-gritting as it rained first. We have carried out a heavy salt now in any case.

“Our full fleet worked overnight with priority on trans-Pennine routes given to A62 Oldham-Huddersfield road as always.”

The council focus was maintaining and keeping the A62 open should traffic have to be diverted from the M62 motorway because of emergencies.

Meanwhile, a battery of sophisticated computer and road sensor equipment on A62 at Bleak Hey Nook at Stanedge and Oldham Way monitored changes in local conditions affecting travellers. Craig added: “All decisions are now dependant on what the weather throws at us.”