Road and Street Gritting

• Where we grit
• When we grit
• Provision of grit bins
• Gritting of pedestrian routes

Where we grit

Gritting priority is given to three types of roads/routes and based upon the recommendations contained in a National Code of Practice.

Priority 1

Priority 1 roads are the top priority. These are heavily used roads, main roads, roads that have bus routes and roads where risk from snow fall is higher due to steeper gradients of roads.

In the event of snowfall settling the Council will dispatch gritting vehicles to spread rock salt on these roads first. Although gritting is usually commenced once snow has started to settle, the Council occasionally grits before snow falls if conditions and weather forecasts suggest this is a wise course of action.

Gritting too far in advance of snow fall can be a waste of time as the grit may be thrown to the side of the road by traffic and by the time snow falls there may be none left on the carriageway to be of any use. It is not unusual to grit priority 1 roads more than once during a sustained cold period when snow continues to fall.

Priority 2

Priority 2 roads are second priority. Once the Council is satisfied that priority 1 roads are sufficiently well treated and traffic is moving well, priority 2 roads are then gritted. Again it is not unusual to grit priority 2 roads more than once during a sustained cold period when snow continues to fall.

Priority 3

Any road that is not listed in priority 1 or priority 2 is deemed to be priority 3. Because weather conditions are rarely very bad for a very long period of time it is unusual to carry out gritting operations beyond priority 2. However, if the need arises resources will be deployed to do so. Officers will assess local conditions throughout the borough and direct resources to deal with priority 3 locations where gritting is needed the most.

To find out which priority a particular road falls under, please see the document in the attached files section below.

When we grit

The Council are recipients of a specialised winter weather forecasting service provided by the Met Office. The forecast, received on a daily basis, gives predictions of the possibility of freezing road temperatures, snow etc, and the time those conditions may occur.

In addition, throughout the winter season, an inspector is employed to check the accuracy of the forecast by measuring road surface temperatures. This enables decisions to be made if, or when gritting is necessary. The aim is to treat Priority 1 roads before road surface temperatures fall to zero degrees Celcius and all Priority 2 roads by 7.30 am.

Provision of grit bins

There are many grit bins throughout the borough in areas not normally subject to mechanical treatment, at hilly, exposed locations and potentially dangerous road junctions.

Grit bins are checked and topped up each October and throughout the winter maintenance period which runs from 1 November to 31 March. Suggestions for new sites are welcomed.

If you would to suggest the placement of a new grit bin, please contact:

Waste Management Team

Tel 020 8489 5637 or 020 8489 3266.

Requests for the provision of a grit bin are assessed and judged against a criteria. They are only provided if full justification can be shown.

Gritting of pedestrian routes

In very severe weather conditions, especially when snow or ice may remain for some days, consideration is given, in priority order, to the treatment of pedestrian routes - footways and pavements in the following order :

1. town centre streets/main pedestrian routes
2. shopping frontages
3. busy pedestrian routes
4. hospitals and doctors surgery frontages/routes
5. school frontages/routes
6. community centre frontages/routes
7. steep sections of footway/footpaths
8. predominately elderly residents areas
9. other residential areas
10. industrial estates.

Please also see Pavement Gritting.

Attached Files

Filename	Filetype	Size
priority 1 and 2 roads.xls	Excel	148K

Useful External Links

The following links are not part of the Haringey Council website. Please read our legal disclaimer before using these links

• Met Office Website

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