Winter road and pavement issues

Winter weather travel

During heavy snow or adverse weather, you should only travel if it’s essential. It’s a good idea to check weather and traffic conditions before you travel during winter. Find out the latest conditions on the roads by viewing camera footage across Sheffield via one.network.
 

Our winter service runs from 1 October to 30 April. During this time our operatives and gritting vehicles are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We have 5 weather stations across Sheffield that provide us with up-to-the-minute weather forecasts, helping us to decide when we need to grit the city’s roads.

Priority gritting routes

We grit over 60% of the highway network in priority order. This includes:

  • priority 1 routes – the main arterial routes which link Sheffield to other major cities and motorways
  • priority 2 routes – other main routes, such as bus routes, link roads, roads where key public service facilities are located, and rural routes

We also clear snow from our busiest pavements and pedestrianised areas, for example around the city centre, hospitals and main retail areas. We do not grit any other pavements across the city. Abandoned or badly parked cars can prevent our gritters getting through. Please be mindful where you leave your vehicle during snow events.

Keep updated on the latest traffic camera images during snow events by following Streets Ahead on Twitter at: @sccstreetsahead

You can get the latest weather reports from the Met Office or follow them on Twitter at @metoffice.

Map of Sheffield gritting routes 

Snow clearing advice

We accept no liability for any injury caused to or by persons volunteering to clear snow or ice.

Grit salt bins

We have over 2,200 grit bins across the city, which are checked and filled at the start of each winter. Please let us know if a bin is empty, missing, damaged or if there is another problem with it.

Relocating under-used grit bins

We undertake a yearly review of our grit bin locations to determine whether they are placed effectively to meet demand.

We do not supply additional grit bins on the network. However, we do consider relocating grit bins to sites which are not within 200 metres of an existing grit bin, or on any road that forms part of the priority 1 or 2 precautionary gritting routes.

Grit bins will only be relocated if the site you are  recommending meets 2 or more of the following criteria:

  • the road has a drainage problem
  • the road has a steep gradient of 1 in 10 (10%)
  • there is a bad bend that has a radius of less than 50 metres
  • is on a junction
  • the road has a main entrance to sheltered housing
  • the road has a main entrance to a school
  • is in an isolated area
  • traffic signals are close (within 20m)
  • a roundabout is close (within 20m) 

Requests for grit bin relocations will be assessed by the Streets Ahead team at the end of the winter season, with priority given to the highest scoring sites.

If you would like to request a grit bin relocation, please email streetsahead@sheffield.gov.uk, putting ‘Grit Bin Relocation’ in the email title, and giving as much detail as possible about the location you are suggesting.

Map of Sheffield grit bins

Contact Streets Ahead

Floor 2
Howden House
1 Union Street
Sheffield
S1 2SH

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