Winter gritting

In adverse weather conditions the council provides a winter maintenance service to help keep traffic moving and to minimise delays and accidents.

This includes salt gritting in advance of ice or snow, pavement clearing and the provision of salt or grit bins.

The priority roads and routes are chosen in accordance with national standards. See the winter service plan for more details. You can also view an interactive map showing roads on Southwark's precautionary gritting route and the location of salt bins.

Gritting and salting of roads

The council carries out precautionary gritting when the road surface temperature is forecast to fall below 0°C. Some roads and routes have priority when it comes to gritting, as follows:

Frost susceptible roads

Some roads especially in the south of the borough are more likely to experience frost than others. They normally get treated first when adverse weather is forecast.

Resilience network

These are selected roads that are to be kept operational during severe winter weather to allow essential services to operate reliably and safely and to 'Keep London Moving'.

All other roads

All other roads, mostly in the central part of the borough will be treated if resources are available after the two above have been treated.

Pedestrian routes

In snow conditions we also salt selected footways - those with very high usage or at vulnerable sites. Consideration is given in the following order to the treatment of pedestrian routes, footways, stairs and pavements:

• Hospitals
• Town centre streets and main pedestrian routes
• Shopping frontages if on a footpath
• Busy pedestrian routes
• School frontages
• Steep sections of footway and footpaths
• Other residential areas

Salt bins

The council has recently increased the number of salt bins provided from 106 to 184 across the borough. They are provided in areas with particularly difficult terrains e.g. steep hills that are difficult to access in adverse conditions, as well as in areas with high pedestrian volumes.

Salt bins also enable residents or passing motorists to treat the carriageway and footway within the area. They are stocked with salt at the beginning of the winter season, and we make every effort to restock throughout winter, supplies permitting.

Keeping safe

Please follow the Directgov guidance on how to safely clear snow or ice from the pavements outside your home.

During the winter period, motorists should not assume that any particular section of road has been gritted, and must travel with caution as dictated by conditions of the road.

Moreover there may be occasions especially in very severe weather conditions that where our grit lorries may not be able to some of the roads that are on the gritting route.

Reporting your concerns about conditions

Please contact our call centre on 020 7525 5000 to report any concerns. These reports will be passed to the daytime duty officer who will assess the situation and advise the right course of action.

Please note that gritting is done by a pre-determined priority and resources are focused primarily on areas which allow the continuation of essential services.

Street cleanliness in snow conditions

In severe winter weather conditions, the street cleansing team will begin to undertake snow clearance activities. This may temporary impact on street cleanliness. The team will however endeavour to resume normal service as soon as practicable.