Gritting and snow clearing

Our gritting crews are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from October until late April including Christmas and New Year's Day. They are ready to treat the roads whenever frost and snow is forecast.

In severe weather, our priority is to keep open all major routes and roads serving emergency facilities and outlying communities.

Gritting updates

During winter weather we provide updates every time the gritters go out. You can find gritting updates on our Twitter page. You don't need a Twitter account to view this information.

Gritting routes

It is not possible to treat every road in the Borough but we do aim to keep main routes clear so that there is minimum disruption to people travelling to and from work. 

View a map showing the main gritting routes

We have divided our road network into three categories for gritting purposes:

Priority 1 

Routes are gritted every time it is decided treatment is necessary.

Priority 1 routes include:

• all major roads
• important bus routes
• busy commuter routes
• roads leading to emergency services facilities, industrial estates and outlying communities

Priority 2 

Routes are gritted only during extreme and prolonged icy conditions, only during the day, only if access is practicable for the gritters and only when all Priority 1 routes are clear.

Priority 2 routes include:

• other bus routes
• certain areas on refuse collection routes
• other commuter routes

Priority 3 

Roads will only be treated when all Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes have been gritted, if grit stocks are good and we have enough resource.

Priority 3 roads are:

• all roads not listed as Priority 1 or Priority 2 routes

Grit and salt bins

Where roads are not gritted as part of a Priority 1 route we provide salt bins at known problem sites around the borough.

 Salt bins are provided on:

• locations on Priority 2 and Priority 3 roads
• steep gradients
• difficult bends
• potentially dangerous road junctions
• exposed locations

View a map of where neighbourhood salt bins are

The bins are there for you to use on a self-help basis but only on public roads and footpaths, not private ones such as driveways. 

We do not sell or provide grit for personal use, you can buy grit for this from most DIY stores. If you see anyone using salt bins inappropriately or removing large amounts of salt unlawfully, report it immediately to our Care For Your Area team on 01642 391959.

Salt bins will be checked and refilled as part of our winter maintenance programme throughout the season, any additional requests received will be considered by our area technicians and supplementary refills will be made where necessary.

Report a salt bin issue

Gritting footpaths and cycleways

We do not grit footpaths or cycleways following overnight frosty conditions as we have to make sure our gritting supplies are used to keep main roads clear.

Using salt to treat footpaths and cycleways is not as efficient as using it to treat roads as the salt grains need to be crushed into a solution to be effective.

In extreme weather conditions our teams are often taken off other jobs to manually clear footpaths of snow and ice. During prolonged periods of ice and snow and when resources allow, we will clear footpaths based around:

• shopping and town centres
• areas where there are designated older people's homes or sheltered accommodation
• school entrances 

Clearing snow from a footpath near your home yourself

Providing you clear the footpath carefully and don't cause an additional hazard by allowing surfaces to refreeze you can clear snow from a footpath near your home. Don't attempt to clear snow by pouring hot water on the area as this is likely to create a sheet of black ice.

More tips on snow clearance as well as a full range of useful winter information can be found on the Gov.uk website. 

Gritting the A19 and A66

We do not provide a gritting service for the A19 and the A66. These roads are maintained by Highways England.

To report a problem with gritting on the A19 and A66 (between the A19 and Teesside Park Interchange) phone Autolink on 01642 560538.

To report a problem with gritting on the A66 (between Teesside Park Interchange and the Borough boundary west of Long Newton) phone National Highways on 0300 123 5000.