Styria’s road crews prepare 220 vehicles for winter

Styria’s road maintenance service has prepared 220 vehicles, about 600 staff and large stocks of road salt for winter operations, ORF reports. Snowploughs and gritting vehicles are ready as falling temperatures increase the risk of icy roads.

Preparations were completed in recent weeks, including checks of vehicles and equipment and training for staff. Drivers were briefed on gritting techniques, while phone operators and district road managers were prepared for their roles, service head Franz Zenz said.

Winter operations had already begun in some places in late October and early November, including in the north at Präbichl and at higher elevations in the south around Gaberl, Weinebene and Turrach. On the night of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day alone, crews covered about 8,500 kilometres of road, more than 1,000 kilometres of them with snowploughs, said provincial transport councillor Claudia Holzer of the Freedom Party of Austria.

The service maintains about 5,000 kilometres of roads in Styria, measured across two lanes, for a total of 10,000 lane-kilometres. Crews make a daily inspection run to check for frost or ice. Staff are assigned to other work during the rest of the day, including maintaining roadside vegetation and replacing road signs.

Drivers have been subject to a situational winter-tyre requirement since November 1.