Winter Gritting

Which roads will be gritted?

When ice or snow is forecast, all Primary roads in the Borough (Class A and B roads), as well as some busier lower class roads - will be salted by Reading Borough Council. These routes do not include the motorways such as the M4 which are salted by the Government's Highways Agency

When will the roads be gritted?

From mid November to the end of March, a duty officer will monitor the weather using regular updates from the Meteorological Office in London and from a series of road monitoring weather stations around the borough. When freezing road temperatures are forecast, the duty officer will arrange for precautionary salting to be undertaken on primary routes.

Salting can take place at any time of the day but is usually carried out during late evening. The Council's contractor, Cresswells, should begin salting within an hour of receiving the call to start, and should complete all of the primary routes in 3 hours. The routes may take longer to treat during rush hours.

In cold conditions always drive with extra care and never assume that a road has been salted even if ice or snow has been forecast. No road can ever be guaranteed to be ice or snow free.

How to Help Yourself

This winter expect:

• Sub zero temperatures
• Frost
• Ice
• Snow
• The sun to be low in the sky

In cold conditions always drive with extra care and never assume that a road has been salted even if ice or snow has been forecast. No road can ever be guaranteed to be ice or snow free.

Plan your Journey

• Ask yourself: Is the journey really necessary and must it be now?
• Is it possible to use public transport or travel at a different time?
• Check the weather forecast before starting your trip – even if it is a local trip
• Plan your journey using the primary route network shown in the Winter Gritting Routes document that you can download from the link on this page
• Allow extra time for the journey and do not rush – it is better to arrive late than never
• If in a vehicle, carry warm additional clothing, waterproof footwear, torch and shovel
• A mobile phone could be useful in an emergency – but only use it if hands free

Check your Vehicle

• Keep your battery fully charged
• Check tyre treads and pressures
• Keep the anti-freeze in the radiator and low freezing screen wash in the washer bottle topped up
• Keep a can of de-icer and scraper in your vehicle
• Before starting your journey, clear ice and condensation from the windscreen, side windows and mirrors
• Make sure windows, wipers, lights and indicators are clean and in good order

Road use in Winter Conditions

• Make allowances for other road users, take responsibility for your safety and do not endanger others
• Think carefully before deciding to use a motorcycle or bicycle. If walking, make sure your footwear and clothing is suitable
• Use local radio stations for regular travel and weather updates
• Rain, fog or snow reduces visibility. Use dipped headlights and reduce your speed
• On wet roads stopping distances are double those on dry roads. Keep well back form the vehicle in front
• If roads are icy or slushy stopping distances can increase 10 fold. Drive slowly in as high a gear as possible. Keep extra distance from the vehicle in front, and avoid heavy braking, acceleration of harsh steering
• Winter sun can be low and dazzling. Use your sun visor
  
  

Downloads

PDF

Some of the following documents are in pdf format. You can download and install a free PDF reader to enable you to read and print them. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Reader from the Adobe website.

File	Type	Size	Download Time
Winter Gritting Routes	PDF	2,715 KB	56Kbps Modem: 11 Minutes Broadband : 55 Seconds