Wherever possible, precautionary gritting (salting) will be carried out after considering forecasts and actual weather conditions.
View Sefton's gritting routes and footway gritting routes. Grit bins are also provided on the highway at key locations.
After heavy snow fall, available resources will be co-ordinated by the Council and partner organisations to clear paths at priority locations.
Snow ploughing will be carried out on the carriageway when the level of snow is excessive and could cause a potential obstruction.
Cycleways will only be gritted where they form part of the approved carriageway and footway gritting routes.
Almost 470km of roads and pavements across the Borough are treated. The busiest routes and areas are targeted to benefit as many people as possible and to keep the Borough moving.
An interactive map of which roads are treated is available here.
In accordance with national guidelines, priority must be given to major carriageways and footways.
It is not possible for the Council to grit every road and footway. While our gritting programme is extensive, we do encourage residents to take extra care when out and about as some side roads and pathways may be icy.
As well as priority carriageways, Sefton Council does treat busy and heavy footfall pedestrianised areas.
You can find a list of locations here.
The weather conditions in Sefton are monitored 24 hours a day by a dedicated team.
When temperatures begin to drop to 0c gritting units are deployed, undertaking a large scale carriageway treatment programme, supplemented by footway gritting in key town centres.
This activity predominantly happens when the weather is at its coldest, meaning most gritters will be on roads in the late evening or early hours of the morning when many people are at home.
The weather continues to be monitored throughout the day and any additional works will be undertaken if required.
Gritting (salting) of the carriageway is designed to help prevent build up of ice on the carriageway.
However in extended periods of sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall, the effectiveness of gritting is partially diminished.
Grit also works most effectively in conjunction with significant volumes of traffic.
Busier roads tend to become clearer quicker than roads which experience less traffic.
Spreading salt (also known as grit) on roads helps to prevent the build up of frost and ice.
Salt lowers the freezing point of the carriageway surface, while moving traffic then helps to break down the salt and disperse it over a wider surface area.
The salt is also mixed with brine as it is dispersed from our gritting lorries. This speeds up the thawing process and reduces waste.
Salting will not prevent snow from settling on the road surface.
| Winter Service Policy |  (pdf 5.15MB) |