Highways Agency insists everything possible was done on A27 (From The Argus)

Highways Agency insists everything possible was done on A27

12:03pm Tuesday 12th March 2013 in News By Kimberly Middleton, Acting chief reporter

Traffic was brought to a standstill by the snow in Sussex last night

The Highways Agency has insisted everything possible was done to clear the A27 last night.

A spokesman said there were a number of incidents on the road.

He said: "A lot of people, who regrettably got trapped, have been saying we didn't treat the roads.

"I can assure them the roads were treated throughout the day yesterday and overnight last night.

"We were prepared for the weather, but what proved difficult is vehicles, particularly heavy vehicles but others as well, were losing traction.

"For us to be able to put down salt and treat the road we need to be able to move along it.

"The volume of snow meant people were getting stuck, which meant the gritters couldn't get through.

"There were also 50mph winds in certain areas which led to snow drifts forming which were a meter deep in some places.

"So we were trying to treat roads with vehicles broken down, high winds and snow drifts.

"We did everything we possibly could to keep the roads open, including pulling in resources elsewhere but the sheer volume of snow and type of weather we were experiencing was quite heavy, particularly for this time of year.

"We had vehicles out around the clock, we were trying to keep the roads open.

"As I understand it the A27 is now all clear."

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