Winter Maintenance

The Council's Development & Environmental Services is responsible for providing Winter Maintenance on adopted roads and footways throughout Clackmannanshire.

Our forecaster supplies the Council with a detailed local forecast daily during the winter months. If the forecast warns of adverse weather conditions, the required action is then planned.

The Roads & Transportation Service also provides an officer for 24hr service, monitoring ice detection equipment thats sited within Clackmannanshire and around our neighbouring authorities.

Due to limited resources, the Council has to prioritise roads & footways so that the most important routes are treated first. As a result, when snow or ice is forecast or occurs, some routes are often not reached.

Roads & Footways are treated in accordance with the following conditions:

Priority C1

Roads comprising the strategic road network including all major bus service routes, main urban traffic routes, principal routes to most schools and routes to emergency service establishments.

Treatment

These routes will receive the following treatment when assessed as necessary:

Precautionary salt treatment between 0530 hours and midnight.
The treatment of ice formations between 0530 hours and midnight.
The clearance of snow accumulations 24 hours per day.

The time allotted for the treatment of ice conditions on Priority C1 routes is 2 hours and the commencement time of 0530 hours is designed to ensure treatment is complete by 0730 hours. Treatment of snow conditions will take longer particularly if ploughing is required.

Priority C2

These are the major secondary routes which include urban spine roads into housing and industrial areas and certain rural roads and identified routes including major cul-de-sacs in housing and industrial areas and certain roads opening up less populated rural areas.

These routes will not receive precautionary salting and any treatment of ice and snow will only be carried out when a specific instruction to do so is given by management who should be satisfied that the following criteria are met:

The general weather outlook established from forecasts, other meteorological information, ice sensor trends etc. is that the prevailing ice or snow conditions are likely to continue beyond midday.
That their treatment would not be detrimental to the level of service required on Priority C1 routes.

Priority C3

The remainder of the road network but divided into:

C3A: Sections of road with identified difficulties.
C3B: Others.

Treatment

These routes will only be treated in very exceptional weather conditions

Footways

The Winter Service of footways will be based on treating the various categories of footway as defined below:

Priority F1

The footways to be treated are:

Those immediately outside shops in urban, community or village shopping centres where a minimum of three essential premises such as food shops, Post Offices etc. exist.
A connecting footway from the above shopping areas to relatively nearby and identified public buildings.
Adopted footways in sheltered housing or residential complexes for the elderly.
One footway along Priority C1 carriageways in built up areas which best serves pedestrian traffic and/or serves the most premises.
Those providing a link to old people's homes or sheltered housing complexes from the nearest treated footway.
Standing areas at bus stops
Footways outside the main access gates to schools.

Treatment

These will be salted each morning that snow or ice formations exists unless information indicates that a thaw will take place before 0800 hours. Clearance will, as far as possible, be by mechanical means. Snow at other times of the working day will be cleared before 0830 hours the following morning.

Priority F2

Relates to ice or snow conditions and comprises the remaining footway network which has identified difficulties

Priority F3

The remainder of the footway network.

Treatment

These will only be treated in very exceptional weather conditions.

Note: Link footpaths will not be treated where alternative, albeit longer treated footway routes are available. Footways will only be treated six days a week (Monday to Saturday)

Check out the Priority Gritting Route Map in the documents section below. It shows the main priority routes throughout Clackmannanshire.

WARNING:- Because a road has a high priority rating - DO NOT assume that it is safe to drive at normal speeds in poor weather conditions!

Help Yourself To Help Others

Over the years, householders and businesses have cleared footways around their own properties. This type of self-help does make a big contribution in making areas safer for everyone, especially the elderly.

Salt bins are provided at locations of identified difficulty, such as:-