Gritting update on Wednesday 20 November
We will be gritting all priority one routes (explained below) across Surrey from 7pm and then a further run at 4am on Thursday 21 November.
There are approximately 3000 miles of roads in Surrey, therefore we need to prioritise which roads we grit and when. Surrey roads are broken down into 3 priority routes and the high routes. Some roads are only partly gritted. These are shown on the Surrey Winter Online Map.
Priority 1 roads are the most important roads in terms of the volume of traffic carried, and are the first to be treated in advance of any forecast frost, ice or snow.
These include:
- all A roads, B roads and roads carrying more than 8,000 vehicles per day
- main access routes to hospitals
- major bus routes
- roads that link gritting routes with those of adjoining counties
- any priority 2 road which meets three or more of the criteria for priority 2 roads
During periods of prolonged and persistent frost, ice or snow, we extend gritting to include these roads, but only once priority 1 roads have been cleared.
These include:
- roads carrying more than 4,000 vehicles per day
- main access routes to important industrial areas and secondary education establishments
- single access points to villages
- access roads leading to railway stations
- roads used by other bus routes and depots
- steep hazardous gradients and on bridges where local icing conditions are known to occur
During periods of snow clearing, the priority 2 network will be extended to include access routes to primary schools.
High routes are a small area to the east of the county that cover the downs at a high altitude. This particular area of the county is more prone to frost.
Because of this, there may be times where we carry out additional gritting on these particular routes.
When we decide to grit the high routes, four gritting vehicles are dispatched from the council's Godstone depot.
Where we do not grit
Areas that we do not grit
We do not grit residential roads (unless they are on the priority list), alleyways, car parks and private property unless they are on the priority list above. Full details of our gritting routes are shown on the Surrey Winter Online Map.
Motorways and trunk roads
We also do not grit Motorways and trunk roads. Highways England are responsible for gritting the motorways and trunk roads that pass-through Surrey, including the M3, the M23, M25, A3, A23 at Hooley and the A30 in Spelthorne only.
