The company in charge of keeping Tayside’s trunk roads snow-free is more than tripling overnight patrols as the spectre of another harsh winter looms.
The last two winters have seen some of the harshest conditions experienced in the country for 50 years.
Throughout the snowfall and subsequent icy roads, BEAR Scotland’s failure to keep the arterial road network around Perth fully open attracted criticism from motorists.
The firm this week announced a package of ”resilience measures” formulated with Transport Scotland to keep traffic moving on the north east’s trunk roads.
Included is an increase from two to seven overnight patrol vehicles on the network capable of reacting to incidents quickly and spreading extra salt if required.
The vehicles will be fitted with mobile road surface temperature sensors to allow real-time monitoring of conditions on the network by the central control room in Perth between November and March.
Salt stocks have been increased to cope with any demand another bad winter might bring.
All operational depots and a new strategic store are at full capacity holding 15,000 tonnes of salt 7000 tonnes more than last year.
Brian Gordon, BEAR Scotland’s deputy managing director, said: ”I am confident we can provide an enhanced winter service to keep traffic moving through periods of severe weather.”
Company representative Eddie Ross added: ””The extra measures put in place will improve our ability to deal with unpredictable weather events and our communication with motorists.”