For the current winter road campaign, Aragón has 147 snow-removing machines equipped by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) to deal with the adverse situations caused by climatology in the State Road Network. This was evident in the meeting held this Wednesday for the coordination of the Winter Road Plan 2023-2024 chaired by the government delegate Fernando Beltrán and in which the subdelegate of the government in Zaragoza, Jorge Pastor, participated. The head of the State Road Demarcation in Aragon, Sandra de Francisco, as well as representatives of the Traffic Headquarters, the Civil Traffic Guard, the Military Emergency Unit, Civil Protection and the State Meteorology Agency have also attended.
The Ministry of Transport has 141 thrust snow removal machines and 6 dynamic ones. In addition, the State has 30 warehouses of foundations distributed in the community and 78 silos with a total capacity of 22,170 tons of salt to deal with adverse weather situations in the State Road Network. In addition, the Mitma has 16 plants and 40 brine tanks with a total capacity of 1,299,000 liters; 105 weather stations and 11 anti-allude cannons, means to prevent cold and snow from altering road conditions.
Road safety on the roads during the season of greatest weather adversity is the main objective of the Winter Road Plan. This updated plan aims to ensure normality on the roads or minimize the number of sections with traffic restrictions in the face of the risk of snowfall and frost or any other atmospheric incident. It also aims to care for people who occupy vehicles when circumstances make it necessary. In Aragon there are 2,500 kilometers of road network and 66% of them are conventional.
The protocol against adverse situations sets in motion a set of actions to maintain the roads of the state network in the conditions of functionality, road and safety optimal in extreme weather conditions, especially in the presence of ice and snow. “The operational plans are based on prevention and smooth and effective coordination to ensure that traffic conditions do not occur,” said the government delegate.
Within the winter road operations, preventive treatments are carried out in situations of low temperatures and curative in case of snowfall on the motorways, motorways and conventional roads affected.
On the other hand, road users are recommended to attend at all times to the recommendations made by the responsible bodies in case of adverse weather situations and to keep themselves informed about the state of the roads. Beltrán has called for “responsibility and respect” when planning trips during the winter and has recalled that it is essential to avoid behaviors that may pose a risk in the midst of unfavorable atmospheric circumstances.
The operational action begins with the weather forecast notices issued by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) that comprise three levels: Alert (yellow, orange or red), Pre Emergency and Emergency.
At the central level, the protocol includes, together with the State Coordination Committee, a Risk Assessment Unit, composed of representatives of the State Meteorological Agency, the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies, the General Directorate of Roads and the General Directorate of Traffic. This unit will be implemented when the situation requires it, in order to assess the expected meteorological situation and its possible impact on the road on the state road network.
This is complemented by other preventive actions, materialized in the dissemination of alerts and warnings to the agencies and services of the administrations involved in the protocol, which is carried out by the State Meteorological Agency and the general direction of Civil Protection and Emergencies.