The mild winter saved Angus Council more than half a million pounds on its maintenance budget.
The 2016/17 winter saw the fewest days with temperatures below zero and the lowest number of days with fresh lying snow in Angus in the last 15 years.
Angus Council’s winter maintenance budget was set at £2.7m and the local authority’s unaudited reports show that just under £2.2m was spent.
The coldest temperature during the winter on the road network was recorded on November 21 at Ruthven crossroads at minus 7.8 degrees.
Approximately 10,500 tonnes of salt was used during the winter. 18,659 tonnes of salt were stocked in advance of the season.
The council report said: “Although deemed by many as a mild, the carriageway saw temperatures dip to minus figures (centigrade) overnight on a number of occasions requiring treatment with day temperatures rising above zero.
“Many of our customers are unaware of our treatment activities during such events where freezing conditions require attention.
“Routes frequently required retreatment with rain washing off the salt after treatment.
“Disruption due to snow was limited to a small number of days across the county, with impact in the glens.”
During the winter there were 48 days in which road surface temperatures were below zero compared with the 15-year average of 90 days.
Priority carriageway routes were treated on 67 days in the morning and 42 days in the afternoon. Footways were treated on eight days.
The A90 trunk road in Angus, which is maintained by BEAR Scotland Ltd on behalf of Transport Scotland, experienced generally the same weather conditions as the local roads.
It was not necessary for the council to assist with winter maintenance on the trunk road at any time during the winter.
The report added: “The net budget for winter maintenance was set for 2016/17 at £2,714,000.
“The standing charges of £1,178,898 included plant, standby arrangements, depot costs, (fixed costs) leaving a balance of £1,535,102 (56.56% of the budget) available for the day-to-day operational costs including salting/snow clearing activities and weather forecast costs, (variable costs).
“The unaudited out turn expenditure figures for the 2016/17 winter service indicate a total cost of £2,189,405.
“When compared with the 2016/17 revenue budget allocation for winter maintenance of £2,714,000, an underspend of £524,595 has resulted.”
Fife Council
Derek Crowe, Senior Manager (Engineering and Waste Services) said: “Fife’s committed to providing a top quality winter service that provides a full 24/7 forecasting and standby service throughout the winter period.
“As the third largest roads authority in Scotland, Fife has a substantial road network of around 2,500km, with 59% of the network being on the primary gritting network which is covered by 24 gritting routes. Fife had a salt stock of 25,800T at the start of the winter which was topped up by a mid-season supply of 8,000. Over the winter period Fife used around 11,000t of salt which was more than the amount used in 2015/16.
“The safety of our roads is one of our top priorities and we’ll always err on the side of caution and grit. Whilst last winter was mild, it still proved to be a tricky winter in relation to forecasting. The winter services budget is set for a mild winter at £3.2m, but due to the conditions, the increased standing charges for the large winter services fleet and a correction to the salt stock, there was in fact an overspend of £0.4m. This overspend was managed by compensating underspends in the wider service budget. In times of very harsh winters Fife has an arrangement in place where significant overspend in the winter budget is provided with corporate assistance.”
