Gritting and Snow Clearance
Southampton City Council has a legal responsibility to maintain clear and safe passage on the highway including the clearance of snow and ice. Improving community safety is one of the council’s top priorities.
The Council currently receives a morning, 24 hour and a 2 to 5 day weather forecast from the Meteo Group. We are also in partnership with Hampshire County Council in using the Icelert® weather condition system as an aid to deciding when to salt roads, we receive a road surface forecast at midday and at least once in the evening. When a forecast for freezing road conditions is received, precautionary salting of first priority roads is carried out.
The Winter Maintenance standby period will commence on 1st November and end on 31st March, this is subject to weather conditions and the operations manager’s discretion. A 4 man crew plus a supervisor are on call 24hrs a day during this period. The gritters go out approximately 2 hours before the ground temperature drops below freezing usually between 19.00 – 20.00. The council owns 5 gritters and can hire 2- 3 more when needed.
Snow Clearance and Ploughing commences when at least 40mm of snow has fallen, settled and the snow is continuing to fall.
Scroll down for more information and to view the Gritting Frequently Asked Questions.
Did you know...
during the period between 2001 - 2006 the authority has gritted the roads 143 times, the winter of 2005 had the most frequent number of occasions at 45 times.
for the financial period 2008/2009 £105,394 was spent on winter maintenance, for 2007/2008 the expenditure was £88,827. these figures include salt, staff time, operational labour and vehicle hire.
Winter Driving Tips
• Check weather and traffic conditions before you leave the house.
• Allow extra time for your journey and reduce your speed to match the road conditions
• Consider whether your journey is really necessary and consider alternative routes.
• Could you use public transport instead?
• Check that your vehicle lights are clean and use dipped headlights in bad weather conditions.
• Get a garage to check that your car battery is in good condition and make sure that the antifreeze is topped up.
• If you are going on a long journey check all fluids in the vehicle, take a shovel, torch, wellington boots, food and a hot drink, also advise someone of your destination and what time you expect to arrive.
• In icy conditions slow down, steer gently and avoid harsh breaking.
• Increase the distance between yourself and the vehicle in front and be certain you can stop within the distance you can see to be clear.
• If you breakdown – stay with your vehicle and wait for recovery.
• If you must leave the vehicle make sure that you are visible to others.
For up to date travel information, vehicle maintenance advice and breakdown cover see links for ROMANSE, the AA and the RAC
For local weather information and national travel up dates listen to your local radio station BBC Radio Solent 96.1 FM, 103.8 FM & DAB
For any enquiries regarding gritting and to report any highway defects please contact Actionline using the link to the online form on the lefthand side or by calling 0800 5 19 19 19.
Icelert® is a registered trademark of Findlay Irvine. All rights acknowledged
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What roads do the Council treat?
The Council are unable to grit all of the roads within the city. Southampton City will grit Class A roads, bus routes and major access routes, these are also spilt into 3 priority routes.
Click here for more information on Priority Routes, Gritting Response times and maps showing our Gritting Routes.
2. Why can't you grit all residential roads?
Ideally the Council would like to grit all roads but this is not possible because of the cost and time it would take.
Although we do grit more than half of the roads in the city which is more than many other local authorities do, tough choices have to be made regarding which roads are gritted and which roads are not.
3. How is grit applied and how does it work?
Although the process is referred to as gritting it is actually salt that is used on the road surfaces.
The salt lowers the freezing point on the road surface. If the road surface is below -8°C then the salt becomes ineffective.
Salt needs the traffic movement to turn the salt into brine to melt the snow, the salt will not melt the snow by itself.
The roads are pre salted at upto 15g/m² and post salted at upto 30g/m².
A minimum of 350 Tonnes of rock salt is kept in the town depot stores.
Under normal winter conditions a maximum of 40 Tonnes of salt per day is required. Due to the extreme conditions in Feb 2009 over 160 Tonnes of salt was used over a 3 day period.
The gritting routes currently cover over 210 miles of road.
The council owns 5 gritters and they occasionally hire 2- 3 more when needed.
4. Where does the grit/salt come from?
In accordance with standard industry practice the City Council has established supply arrangements for salt with the Salt Union and also with surrounding local authorities and its partner.
5. How much stock does the Council have and what happens if it runs out?
In normal circumstances a minimum of 350 Tonnes of rock salt is kept at town depot and used and replaced accordingly as per our arrangements with the Salt Union and surrounding local authorities.
6. Does gritting always work?
7. Do we have grit bins in the city and where are they located?
The Council currently has in use 105 grit bins across the city, which are provided for use on public roads and pavements and not for use in private areas.
Click here to see the list of grit bin locations in Southampton.
To report a grit bin which needs refilling or to request a grit bin contact Actionline using the link on the left hand side or by calling 0800 5 19 19 19.
Please note: Grit bin requests will only be considered from a recognised public body,
8. How can you help?
If you leave a vehicle parked on the road which is on a gritting route, please ensure there is enough width remaining (at least 3 metres) for the gritting vehicle to get past.
Please drive carefully and responsibly.
Contact information
- actionline@southampton.gov.uk
- 0800 5 19 19 19
- Civic Centre Southampton
