Gritting

Priorities for gritting roads have been established on the basis of the route hierarchy and level of use. The main roads will be gritted before other routes. For information about gritting routes including route maps follow the ‘Gritting routes’ link on the left.

We do not normally treat cycle ways or pavements, although those alongside the carriageway do benefit from some treatment overspill from the road. However, footways in the main shopping areas of Market Towns will receive treatment during long periods of frost and snow as available resources permit.

In some areas salt bins are provided for the use of clearing pavements (see salt bins link below).

[Report a gritting problem]

Gritting priorities

Norfolk County Council today (Thursday 14 January) published maps showing the top priority gritting routes that would still be treated if the weather deteriorates before the Government allows an increase in salt supplies to Norfolk.

The Government has asked councils to cut the amount of road salt they use by 50%, compared to last week. At the moment, stock conservation measures taken by Norfolk County Council are already achieving this reduction while continuing to treat 1,900 miles of priority 1 and 2 routes.

These measures have included:

• Reducing the number of salting runs and carefully timed those that do take place

• Cutting back the spreading rate of salt from the levels used last week

• Switching to sand for treating icy pavements and for restocking grit bins.

Given the recent easing in the freezing weather, these measures have cut salt use by 50% without any reduction in mileage regularly treated. However, another bout of severe winter weather with heavy snowfall would force the council to switch to treating around 1,000 miles of top priority routes only. These would include all county 'A' roads and most 'B' roads, but would not include some of the access roads into villages that have been regularly treated over the winter so far.

[View the Norfolk and Norwich gritting priority maps on the gritting routes page]