The Council's gritting trucks work to keep traffic flowing during cold weather. It is not possible to grit all roads with the resources available.
Priority gritting routes
Our priority roads include:
- Major road networks
- Link roads
- Routes to schools
- Key areas of the borough with specific issues.
Finding out if a road is on a gritting route
Check which roads are gritted on our gritting route list.
Tips on clearing snow and ice
For tips on clearing snow and ice from paved areas visit: Met Office heavy snow and icy roads webpage.
What are standard gritting routes?
Standard gritting routes are the roads where the Council determines that:
- The road surface temperature is likely to be below zero celsius
- There is a likelihood of frost or ice forming on the surface
What are severe gritting routes?
These are the routes where we anticipate snow conditions following Met Office advice.
These routes:
- Cover all of the standard routes
- Cover specific roads that are known to be an issue in snow conditions.
Gritting salt
The salt from grit bins is for the public streets and must not be used on private property.
We do not sell gritting salt. Our salt is stored in a working depot with lots of moving vehicles and machinery. It is not safe to allow visitors to buy the salt. You can buy salt at DIY stores or builders merchants.
How many gritting routes are there?
The borough is split into four gritting routes. When we get a severe weather warning we immediately dispatch our gritting trucks across the borough. All designated gritting routes are completed in under four hours.
Do we grit drive-ways of elderly residents?
Whilst we sympathise with the concerns of elderly residents, we do not sweep any private driveways. Our resources are directed to the public roads and areas of high footfall.
For advice on keeping warm and safe during cold weather, see Cold Weather Support.