Balfour Beatty Living Places on standby to tackle ‘Beast from the East’

Herefordshire Council, in partnership with Balfour Beatty Living Places, is preparing to keep the county moving as the ‘Beast from the East’ moves in.

As the council’s public realm contractor, Balfour Beatty Living Places is continuing to monitor conditions around-the-clock to ensure the county’s 14 priority routes are kept clear during extreme weather conditions.

In preparation, over the past 24 hours, the Balfour Beatty Living Places team has gritted over 1,000 miles of road. This includes 600 miles of priority routes and over 400 miles of secondary routes.

The county’s salt barns are fully stocked with 4,800 tonnes of salt available to the 30-strong gritting team, which operates 16 frontline gritting vehicles, four snow blowers and two quad bikes.

Balfour Beatty Living Places contract director, Andy Williams, said: “Throughout the winter period, Balfour Beatty Living Places undertakes essential winter maintenance activities across Herefordshire, with our gritting team on stand-by 24/7 to treat the county’s routes. Using real-time Met Office data and the latest tracking technology on our fleet of gritters, we can deliver effective gritting services at short notice.

“We are committed to keeping the local community and travelling public on the move and will be gritting again this evening and throughout the coming weeks as necessary to ensure optimum road conditions during this exceptionally cold period.”

Councillor Barry Durkin, Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Roads and Regulatory Services, added: “Weather conditions can change quickly and can make a significant difference to your normal driving experience. All routes can become treacherous, even once they have been salted. Rain can wash salt off the roads and, in very cold weather, even salting will not stop ice from forming.

“I would advise drivers to take extra care when driving on winter roads – avoid fast turns and sharp braking, use low-beam headlights to prevent glare and keep a respectful distance from the car in front. Whatever the weather condition, please take care on the roads.”

Precautionary salting normally takes place in the early morning or evening but additional action may be required during extreme weather.