Road salting and snow clearance
Gritting routes
When we expect icy weather, we will salt the main routes in Kent as a precaution. We call these routes our primary salting routes. We do not treat minor roads and lanes, and we are not responsible for motorways or trunk roads.
Our primary salting routes cover about 30% of the roads in Kent; these include:
- all A and B-class roads
- busy commuter routes
- other roads that can become hazardous in frosty or icy conditions.
Enter a postcode, street name, or area to the map to see all our primary salting routes.
How we grit the roads
Our gritters are wide vehicles. If they cannot drive down your road due to inconsiderate parking, they may not be able to grit it. So, please park sensibly.
We have 64 winter service vehicles. This includes 4 mini gritters to treat narrower roads. Our gritters spread salt based on the road surface temperature. This is different from the air temperature.
If we know there will be heavy frost, widespread ice, or snow, we may salt another 15% of the road network. We will treat these after our primary routes.
Although we treat roads in Kent, we cannot guarantee we will remove all the ice. Please drive to the conditions and make sure your vehicle is winter ready.
Which roads we clear first from snow
Our snow clearing operation will take place when heavy and continuous snowfall settles.
We concentrate on primary routes such as:
- access to hospitals
- fire stations and other important facilities while it's snowing or if there are strong winds causing drifting.
Once the main roads are clear, we will work on other roads.
It may not be possible to clear every road, and some roads may have to be left to thaw naturally. If you have to drive, please be extra careful and be prepared should you break down or get stuck.
Snow ploughs only work effectively when snow is more than 5cm (2in) deep, they also cannot work on roads that have road humps or similar traffic calming measures.
Highways England clear motorways and trunk roads. Medway Council clears roads in Medway.
How we clear the snow
We use snow ploughs fitted onto gritters to plough snow from the roads. We don’t grit on top of snow. Snow has to be ploughed, because grit will not melt it.
We have arrangements with approximately 117 farmers covering over 200 routes across the county, who can assist in snow clearance when needed.
We have 12 snow blowers and can hire extra machinery if we need to.