A23 Tonight

[LamieRobertson]

Sussex Police ‏@sussex_police
The A259 - Rottingdean to Ovingdean impassable due to snow being blown off the fields

Ye but I was referring to West Sussex and like the a27.. Problems that don't seem to hav been caused by drifting

 

[LamieRobertson]

Step-daughter stuck on A23 somewhere between Bolney and Pease Pottage heading north. Says she's been stationery for nearly 3 hours now. 2 lanes at a complete standstill

Got to feel for her....it does seem to have caused more problems this time round

 

[LamieRobertson]

I was supposed to start a new job tomorrow after a week off looking outside in shoreham it's 5 inches deep & still snowing
Another day tomorrow watching Netflix me thinks

Hmm..I've checked not 5 inches here ..u get more snow up posh part

 

[vegster]

Will say it again: grit is designed to prevent ice. Not snow. It's not the same thing. I don't know WHY it's that way, only that it is.

Ah, but here's the science bit the grit is combined with salt. You put salt on a road and if any snow hits the road the salt melts it creates brine which has a lower freezing temperature. Cars crush the grit and salt in to the road with the snow and it melts....making more brine which stops the snow from settling... easy. This process continues until such time a the brine is very diluted and then it may well freeze. This is why sometimes a freeze after heavy rain can cause bad black ice problems as all that lovely salt has washed away.
Two long streams of slow moving traffic ( 5mph) could not seem to melt the 1cm/hour snowfall on the A259 today at Rustington because it had not been treated.

 

[amexee]

LOL, apparently they have got a gritter out in HH. Hearing report that its got stuck in bolnore

 

[LamieRobertson]

Ah, but here's the science bit the grit is combined with salt. You put salt on a road and if any snow hits the road the salt melts it creates brine which has a lower freezing temperature. Cars crush the grit and salt in to the road with the snow and it melts....making more brine which stops the snow from settling... easy. This process continues until such time a the brine is very diluted and then it may well freeze. This is why sometimes a freeze after heavy rain can cause bad black ice problems as all that lovely salt has washed away.
Two long streams of slow moving traffic ( 5mph) could not seem to melt the 1cm/hour snowfall on the A259 today at Rustington because it had not been treated.

That's exactly the way I see it

 

[cjd]

Hmm..I've checked not 5 inches here ..u get more snow up posh part

LOL....!

Definitely at least 4- 5 inches up here. I live in the posh part of the posh end.......but on the poor side of the road.

 

[Lincoln Imp]

Gritters, for your information, are designed to try and prevent ice from forming on the road. They do not prevent, and have almost no impact against snow settling. The "grit" is a mixture of salt and brine solution, which requires vehicles to drive over it and crunch it into the road surface to have an effect. This does not stop snow settling, the only way that can be prevented is by a continuous stream of traffic driving.

During slow times- ie early afternoon- when traffic is light, snow settles easily on the roads, though there's not enough for it to be ploughed. That can't really be helped, it's just what nature does. Then later on, traffic builds up, by which time the snow is already laying. Traffic slows, due to conditions, which builds tailbacks. Some cars then fail to anticipate the poor conditions and crash, causing more tailbacks. By this point, all the traffic is at a standstill, and neither snowploughs nor (irrelevant in snow terms) gritters can get through anyway.

You're welcome

I appreciate your advice but nowhere did I mention snow. The snow was light - the problem seemed to be that ice was forming. I know half of bugger all about council road maintenance but I always thought that gritters were there to discourage iciness.

 

[nordicgod]

The brother in law left chessington at 1615 to get to lancing and still has 23 miles to go stuck on a23

 

[Max Paper]

Just going to turn heating down

 

[pasty]

Step-daughter stuck on A23 somewhere between Bolney and Pease Pottage heading north. Says she's been stationery for nearly 3 hours now. 2 lanes at a complete standstill

Make that 4 hours. She's moved 2 feet and that was just to let an ambulance through. Looks like the poor kid is going to be there all night at this rate.

 

[Everest]

Should ask if you can sleep on pub floor....sounds awful ..hope it's better in the morning for you

No b&b's?

There's hb&b, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Hendrax]

left the marina yacht club today at 6:30 in my bosses van to drop me as close to the station as possible, 45 minutes later i jumped out at the hospital as we were driving sideways and buses were stuck at the stops ejecting all the passengers, im just glad the trains were not too bad.

 

[skipper734]

Friend of mine left Gatwick at 4.15 and says she is now about 1 mile from Pycoombe. I guess that's where the really difficult bit starts.

 

[Captain Sensible]

Friend of mine left Gatwick at 4.15 and says she is now about 1 mile from Pycoombe. I guess that's where the really difficult bit starts.

Abandoned cars on inside lane meaning only outside lane open and cars having problems going up are getting towed by police 4x4's so its gonna take a long time.

Is it time to encourage the public to put on winter tyres from December to April?

 

[Barry Izbak]

Tony livesey on 5 live speaking to people stuck in cars on A22 and A23.
It sounds desperate up handcross hill.

Good luck out there peeps, and sort it out before I set off for Barnsley.

 

[Woodchip]

Good luck one and all. I certainly don't miss the poor planning of councils for snow.

 

[T soprano]

Hmm..I've checked not 5 inches here ..u get more snow up posh part

Don't let the truth spoil a good story , ok then lamie it's about 3 inches but still snowing so probably will be about 5 inches in the morning

 

[Plake]

Abandoned cars on inside lane meaning only outside lane open and cars having problems going up are getting towed by police 4x4's so its gonna take a long time.

Is it time to encourage the public to put on winter tyres from December to April?

I'd say it should be law to have either winter tyres or snow socks in winter. Pathetic preparation by muppet drivers = avoidable carnage, every year.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I'm in Germany, but my wife says she's had six inches tonight, so it must be pretty bad in Shoreham-by-Sea