Gritting Routes
Fleet
The Council has 31 gritters available, all of which can be fitted with ploughs if required. Ploughs will only be fitted when snowfalls of more than 50mm are forecast.
Rock Salt
The rock salt used by the Council is conventional 6mm rock salt, but treated with a 3% molasses blend. The benefit of using this product is that we can treat the roads using less salt and it is less corrosive than conventional rock salt.
During a normal precautionary grit, the rock salt is spread at a rate of 10g / m2, but this can be increased to cope with worsening weather conditions. In snow conditions, 10mm conventional rock salt (as this is more effective for snow) is spread at a rate of 40g / m2. All rock salt used by the Council is to the appropriate British Standard.
Grit Bins
Grit bins are located at strategic points throughout the District, on or adjacent to the highway, to assist in areas where problems have been encountered in previous years both on and off recognised routes. They are filled at the start of the winter period and replenished as necessary throughout the winter period. There are approximately 500 grit bins in use throughout the District.
Self Gritting
There is no facility for members of the public to self load their own containers. The rock salt we use is NOT for private use. Please use your own salt if you wish to treat access to your home or your drive. If the Council find that residents are using rock salt from grit bins for personal use, we will not replenish stockpile in that particular bin.
Other useful information
Treatment time - this is the period between vehicles leaving the depot and the completion of the treatment on the Precautionary Gritting Route. The target time is 2½ hours and should be completed prior to ice forming on the network. If treatment coincides with peak travel periods, gritters will become delayed or stuck in the traffic they are trying to assist. The time taken for snow clearance is also dependent on prevailing weather and traffic conditions.
Request Gritting
Once you have read the information on this page, if you feel it necessary to request a particular road is gritted, you can do this on the Gritting Request Online Form
Please note - the operational and financial resources available for the winter maintenance service mean that it is not the intention and is not possible to respond to all requests for gritting or keep all roads free from ice and snow at all times
