Gritting

Our gritting crews are on standby around the clock from November to April, ready to treat the 321 miles of roads on our primary gritting routes.

We grit primary routes in the borough first. The primary routes include main roads, housing estates and other important routes, like bus routes, and those linking towns and villages.

If there's prolonged bad weather, we'll move on to our secondary routes as well.

Our teams will treat footpaths in some areas, like the town centre, shopping precincts and outside hospitals, schools and GP surgeries. Our Winter Service Policy shows you the areas we grit and clear the snow from.

You can check primary routes on our map, along with the locations of our grit bins.

Grit bins

We provide over 550 grit bins across the borough which we fill once in mid-November. Used correctly, this should be enough grit to last the entire winter period, so we won't routinely refill them.

Request a new grit bin or to move an existing grit bin

New grit bin requests will be assessed against our criteria and added to a list. The list is reviewed when resources are available, and this helps us decide where new grit bins are needed for the next winter season.

Requests to move an existing grit bin will be considered, but we can't guarantee that it will be relocated.

Request a grit bin refill

Grit bins are normally refilled once each winter. If the grit is used correctly, this should last the winter period. Additional refills may be provided where necessary.

In the event of severe weather, further refills will be carried out as resources allow.

Report damage, misuse or litter

If a grit bin is damaged, or has waste in it, we'll inspect it and replace/clean it where necessary.

How to use grit

The grit we provide should be used to treat the pavements and roads in your area that we don’t grit. You shouldn’t use it on your own property.

When using grit you only need one tablespoon of grit to cover 1 square metre of ground. Try to spread grit before snow falls. It needs to be activated by pedestrians walking on it or traffic driving over it for it to work properly.

Grit bins we're not responsible for

We're not responsible for filling private grit bins. Grit bins outside bus/train stations and supermarkets, or those owned by Berneslai Homes for example are looked after by the owner.

If we’ve not adopted the road on a new estate, the housing developer will be responsible for the grit bins.

More information about gritting

How we know when to grit

We rely on weather reports from our forecast provider stations at Scout Dike, Dodworth, Great Houghton, Hoyland and Victoria. We use these to predict when we'll need to grit.

Which footways are priority

When conditions are so bad that key locations across the borough are affected by snow and ice, we'll activate our snow plan.

It sets out priority areas for treatment, including:

the town centre
local shopping areas
sheltered complexes and housing estates for older people
outside schools, hospitals and GP surgeries
public parks

How we prepare for the cold weather

To prepare for the cold weather, we have:

12 new gritters, with crews available 24/7
9 primary gritting routes
more than 550 grit bins
a system of resilience management, bringing all front-line service into play

Planning winter journeys

Follow us on Facebook and X for updates and insight into our team's hard work this winter. You can also search for #SYgrit to stay up to date on gritting across South Yorkshire and make planning journeys easier.

If you're driving, make sure you've checked that your vehicle's ready for winter and drive with care. You can get the latest weather reports from the Met Office or sign up for Met Office email updates.

The Met Office has also produced some helpful guides about travelling during winter.

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