HOW ARE WE DEALING WITH THE SNOW IN EPPING?

I’ve had a number of emails and calls from residents recently regarding how Essex County Council’s Highways and Transportation department are helping to keep Epping moving during the heavy snow we have seen in the past few weeks. Many residents have asked which roads actually get gritted or salted as part of the Council’s precautionary measures (i.e. when frost, ice or snow are forecast) and the answer is:

* Motorways.
* “A”, “B” and “C” roads, main roads linking estates etc.
* Direct access routes to hospitals, fire and ambulance stations.
* Public service bus routes carrying a total of four or more public service buses per day, at least 5 days a week.
* Sites of four or more recorded accident (Personal injury accidents) within a 3 year period where frost/ice on the carriageway surface was a contributory factor.
* Rural routes, i.e. the main access road, leading to the main settlement, of parishes of 50 Households or more.
* Epping Forest District Council are also provided with a supply of salt grit to cover town centres.

In Epping, the following roads are also covered: Lindsey Street, High Street, High Road, Palmers Hill etc, The Plain, Coopersale Common, Stonards Hill, Coopersale Street, Stewards Green Road, Station Road, Centre Drive, Bower Hill, Bridge Hill, Brook Road, Ivy Chimneys Road, Theydon Road, Bury Lane, Tower Road, Lower Swaines, Coronation Hill and Shaftsbury Road.

The following roads are classed as “secondary roads” that we salt post snow/ice when resources permit and when the main salted roads are clear: Kendall Avenue, Ravensmere, Hemnall Street (both sections), Bakers Lane running into Ingles Mead, Nicholl Road running into Amesbury Road, Lincolns Fields, Rayfield, Severns Field (cul-de-sac), Beaconfield Road, Beaconfield Avenue.

A number of residents have also raised concern about the recent state of Crows Road, given the fact it is a very well used road to access St. John’s School and has a steep incline, so I have today had this road added to the secondary roads list.

Epping Town Council has also purchased a number of salt bins which are scattered across the town. These are to be used by residents who believe the road outside of their home is dangerous. They can be found at: Theydon Grove (opposite number 3), in Beaconsfield Road (opposite number 24), in Parklands (opposite 48), in Ingles Mead (at the junction with Rayfield), in Stewards Green Road (opposite the Merry Fiddlers Pub) and in St. John’s Road (inside Epping Primary School’s gates).

For more information about County Highways and travel information, please click here. Otherwise you can follow the latest announcements on Twitter here.