We carry out gritting (salting) between November and April, to keep roads safe when there's a threat of snow, ice and frost.
Our fleet of gritters and mini tractors are responsible for gritting around 360 miles of:
- roads
- footpaths
- cycle paths
We'll keep you informed about gritting via our social media:
Gritting routes map
Search by postcode or street name to find nearby primary and secondary gritting routes, shown as blue lines. Salt bins are shown as red icons.
Zoom in (+) or zoom out; (-) or move/drag the map to reveal information; you can also:
- click a 'feature' to get further information
- click >> or << to reveal or hide the map legend
Gritting conditions
Gritting is normally carried out in the evening and early morning when:
- road surface temperatures are predicted to drop below 0°C
- frost or ice is expected to form on the road
- snow is forecast
Some circumstances affect when and how we spread grit, including:
- severe weather conditions
- traffic congestion causing delays
- if rain is forecast, which could wash grit away
- snowfall greater than 5cm, meaning ploughing is needed first
- unexpected changes in weather conditions, limiting time to cover routes before 'rush hour'
- temperatures below -5°C, which make grit less effective
Our responsibility for gritting
We carry out precautionary gritting on primary routes and city centre footpaths when there's a risk of frost, ice or snow.
We grit secondary routes if resources are available.
However, we cannot:
- grit motorways or trunk roads - these are the responsibility of Highways England
- grit all highways - we only grit primary routes shown on the map
- keep roads free of ice and snow all of the time
- grit land that doesn't belong to us, such as on Explore library property - contact libraries directly to report slippery conditions
- grit car parks, cycle paths, or footpaths outside the city centre
Winter service plan
Our Winter Service Plan includes details (and maps) of our treatment network, and describes our decision-making processes for the winter services we provide.
Salt bins
We provide salt bins at key points to encourage 'self help' when roads are icy; salt, or 'grit', in these bins is also for use on footpaths