Lancashire County Council Monitors Weather for Roads

Lancashire County Council trials new monitoring technology to predict extreme weather and better prepare the roads.

19:12 12 August 2018

Lancashire County Council is currently using a new monitoring technology and more accurate meteorological forecasts in order to better predict with a high degree of certainty when road temperatures will fall near freezing.

 

Currently, the county’s highways teams monitor the weather throughout the winter to ensure that the roads are gritted whenever a freeze is forecast.

 

County Councillor Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "Our gritting crews are on standby 24/7 from October to April, and when low temperatures are forecast we grit the roads as a precaution before frost forms or a weather front arrives, usually during the evening or early hours of the morning,"

 

"The decision on whether to send out the gritters is taken by experienced staff according to the most accurate information available on local weather conditions, as well as data from roadside monitoring equipment around the county," he added. "This method is very well developed, allowing us to differentiate between conditions on each of 45 routes, so that we only grit those that we need to."

 

 

"The decision on whether to send out the gritters is taken by experienced staff according to the most accurate information available on local weather conditions, as well as data from roadside monitoring equipment around the county," he added. "This method is very well developed, allowing us to differentiate between conditions on each of 45 routes, so that we only grit those that we need to."