Winter road maintenance and gritting

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

How we decide when and where to grit

We have two weather stations in Sheffield: at Hillfoot (below 200m) and Moscar (above 200m) which provide continuous up to date weather conditions and temperature readings. We also have our own Met Office forecaster who provides a specific weather forecast for Sheffield each day of the winter maintenance period.

We may carry out more grit runs on higher ground, as winter temperatures tend to be colder the higher up you are, and warmer on lower ground, especially in the city centre. It can take up to 5 hours to complete all our priority 1 and 2 gritting routes on higher ground (above 200m).

We try to grit the roads when they are at their quietest, generally overnight where possible. However, the weather dictates when gritting takes place, so if it’s cold enough during the day, you will see a gritter on Sheffield’s roads.

Cycle lanes and pavements

We do not specifically grit cycle lanes. However, if a cycle lane is adjacent to a priority gritting route, then it will be gritted, as it’s part of the road. Any cycle lanes which are segregated from the road are not gritted. We also do not grit cycle lanes in parks or in any housing estates.

We grit and clear snow from the city’s busiest pavements and pedestrian areas, including around the two main hospitals, the train station and the city centre shopping areas. Unfortunately, we cannot grit residential pavements.

Map of Sheffield gritting routes

The map below shows primary gritting routes in red and secondary routes in blue.