Winter road gritting activity, distance and spend
Case reference EIR2026/00030
Received 7 January 2026
Published 27 January 2026
Request
Please provide the following information for each of the last three winter seasons:
Winter 2023/24
Winter 2024/25
Winter 2025/26 (to date)
1) Gritting activity
a) The total number of days on which gritting or salting was carried out.
b) The total number of gritting or salting runs undertaken.
c) The total distance of road treated through gritting or salting activity, measured in miles or kilometres.
2) Time and resource use (where recorded)
a) The total number of staff hours spent on gritting or salting activity.
b) The total number of vehicle hours spent on gritting or salting activity.
3) Costs and budgets
a) The total amount spent on gritting and salting operations in each winter period.
b) The allocated budget for winter road gritting and salting for each winter period.
4) Priority routes
Please confirm whether your authority operates designated priority or “snow routes” for winter maintenance.
5) Network coverage
a) The total length of the highway network maintained by your authority (in miles or kilometres).
b) The approximate length or percentage of this network that is included within precautionary or priority gritting routes.
If any element of this request is likely to exceed the Section 12 cost limit, please advise which parts can be provided within the limit so I may refine the request.
Response
Please provide the following information for each of the last three winter seasons:
Winter 2023/24
Winter 2024/25
Winter 2025/26 (to date)
1) Gritting activity
a) The total number of days on which gritting or salting was carried out.
A: Winter 2023/24 39
Winter 2024/25 49
Winter 2025/26 (to date) 28
b) The total number of gritting or salting runs undertaken.
A: Winter 2023/24 58
Winter 2024/25 68
Winter 2025/26 (to date) 47
c) The total distance of road treated through gritting or salting activity, measured in miles or kilometres.
A: Winter 2023/24 55,170 km
Winter 2024/25 64,780 km
Winter 2025/26 (to date) 44,599 km
2) Time and resource use (where recorded)
a) The total number of staff hours spent on gritting or salting activity.
b) The total number of vehicle hours spent on gritting or salting activity.
A: The total number of staff and vehicle hours spent on gritting or salting activity is not held, as winter jobs are done during the working day in most cases. Furthermore Balfour Beatty have confirmed that their system is unable to produce any report that could detail driving time.
3) Costs and budgets
a) The total amount spent on gritting and salting operations in each winter period.
A:
|
Winter Period |
Total |
|
2023/24 |
450,772.00 |
|
2024/25 |
399,048.00 |
|
2025/26 |
254,403.00 |
b) The allocated budget for winter road gritting and salting for each winter period.
A:
|
Winter Period |
Budget |
|
2023/24 |
410,456.00 |
|
2024/25 |
404,550.00 |
|
2025/26 |
428,507.00 |
4) Priority routes
Please confirm whether your authority operates designated priority or “snow routes” for winter maintenance.
A: 15 x Priority Routes
5) Network coverage
a) The total length of the highway network maintained by your authority (in miles or kilometres).
A: 3291km
b) The approximate length or percentage of this network that is included within precautionary or priority gritting routes.
If any element of this request is likely to exceed the Section 12 cost limit, please advise which parts can be provided within the limit so I may refine the request.
A: Approx 29%, consisting of 15 Priority Gritting Routes (Treating 959 Km), 25 Secondary Routes (Treating 677 Km) and additional treatment of designated locations, including Market Towns, High Footfall Footways, Cycleways, HC Car Parks, Emergency Depots, etc.
Documents
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