Highways crews working hard to keep Bucks safe and moving this winter

High winds, torrential rain and freezing temperatures have been keeping Buckinghamshire Highways teams extra busy this winter, but it's all part of the job for the experienced crews whose aim is to keep Buckinghamshire safe and moving.

Teams have been working around the clock, in often hazardous conditions, following an onslaught of extreme winter weather in recent weeks. Storms Henk, Isha and Jocelyn have brought severe winds and rainfall to large areas of the UK, including Buckinghamshire. In addition, plunging temperatures over a prolonged period have seen gritting crews out on repeat cycles to keep roads safe.

Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “Winter always places additional challenges on our highways crews, with more extreme weather conditions adding to the already busy schedule of works. The weather in the past couple of weeks has really called for all hands to be ready as we’ve been faced with a surge in emergency call-outs and dealt with everything from trees blocking roads to stranded vehicles, flooding and icy stretches of road.

“I’m proud of the efforts all our teams have made, with crews working all hours of day and night to keep everyone safe. Overnight, when most people are fast asleep or in the daytime when the weather conditions have been at their most treacherous, our crews have braved the elements and ventured out to deal with the variety of incidents that have been reported.”

In the first week of January alone, crews responded to 258 separate emergencies which included 109 fallen trees and branches and 83 flooding incidents. Up to 20 crews were out and about at any one time. Gritting crews across the county have completed 25 runs since the beginning of the month, as temperatures plummeted. Overall, in just the first few weeks of the year, highways teams have dealt with more than 540 emergency call-outs, a huge increase compared to the same period last year.

With such a large number of emergencies to deal with, crews have been diverted away from their regular work schedules including addressing road defects across the county.

Steven explained: “The same crews who would normally be out and about fixing potholes and other defects have been busy dealing with the emergencies that have sprung up so that we prioritise the immediate problem. Winter weather conditions do damage our road surfaces and so new road defects are the norm at this time of year and are appearing across the county.

“We’re not able to make permanent repairs in the winter but our crews will assess all defects reported and make safe the worst affected with temporary repairs. Once conditions improve as we go into spring and summer these defects will be added to our comprehensive schedules for a permanent fix.”

To report a highways defect in Buckinghamshire visit: www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/fix-my-street