West Sussex County Council says its highways team has spent the past six months strengthening the county’s road network ahead of winter.
The work has focused on repairing potholes, improving road surfaces and ensuring the network can cope with severe weather. Between April and September, crews carried out essential maintenance to help keep West Sussex moving safely through the colder months.
As winter approaches, the council says drainage clearance is being stepped up to help prevent flooding. Extra resources are being provided to ensure water can run off roads effectively during heavy rain, with teams working alongside district and borough councils to keep gullies clear and free-flowing.
It’s not just rain that poses a challenge. Falling temperatures and trees can also disrupt travel. The council says its annual Operation Snowflake has recently been completed — involving maintenance checks on gritting vehicles and test runs across routes that use around 9,000 tonnes of salt stored in the county’s depots.
In addition, the highways operations team has removed more than 1,200 diseased or dangerous trees, trimmed roadside vegetation, and cleaned signs to improve visibility and safety for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Cllr Joy Dennis, WSCC cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: “Keeping our roads clear and traffic moving is important year-round but when winter brings strong winds and heavy, sustained rainfall this can become difficult.
“The winter before last was a particularly problematic one with low temperatures and record rainfall that caused significant damage to our roads and disrupted journeys for many of our residents.
“This year, we’ve invested an extra £5million from our revenue budget to support a wide range of activities with a heavy focus on preparing for winter and improving the resilience of our highways network when faced with extremes of weather.
“The council’s highways team will continue this work over the coming months but we need our residents to help us keep the network open by continuing to report any issues you encounter using our online reporting tool.”
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