Gritting crews are now on standby round the clock with tonnes of salt ready to maintain Darlington's main roads.
They will be on 24-hour stand-by until April 2025 as the cold weather sets in.
In total 18 drivers look after six priority routes which include half of Darlington's roads in and around town.
The gritting crews have 5,500 tonnes of salt in stock ready to use.
It takes the teams two hours to pre-salt all 190 miles of top-priority roads and they are now ready for when the temperatures drop.
The team of 18 drivers, staffed from the council’s street scene and highways services, maintain six priority routes which cover over 50% of Darlington’s road network, including the main roads into and through the town, as well as all scheduled bus routes.
A Darlington Borough Council spokesperson said: "Our gritting crews are on standby, 24 hours a day from now until April.
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"When the cold weather sets in, they’ll be day and night working to keep traffic moving.
"It takes our teams two hours to pre-salt our 190 miles of priority one road and we have 5,500 tonnes of salt in stock ready."
To find out more, including how Darlington Borough Council prioritise which roads to grit and how grit works, visit www.darlington.gov.uk/gritting.
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