Winter gritting

We spread salt on roads to prevent ice forming on every night when icy or frosty conditions are forecast.

Report a snow, ice or gritting problem

Which roads are gritted?

Denbighshire’s network covers 1416km of roads, which range from little-used rural roads and narrow tracks to isolated properties up to regional, strategic routes like the A55.

The gritted network is currently split in to 9 routes:

  • 4 covering the North of the county running from Kinmel depot
  • 5 covering the middle and South of the county running from Lon Parcwr depot in Ruthin

These 9 routes cover approximately 950km, of which 605km is treated.

We aim to grit priority gritting routes four hours before a minimum temperature of zero degrees or one degree if no actual frost is forecast by our weather forecast provider.

We prioritise these types of roads:

  • Main classified routes (A and B roads)
  • Principal bus routes
  • Access routes to hospitals, schools and cemeteries
  • Access to police, fire, ambulance and rescue services
  • Primary routes serving substantial villages/communities
  • Main industrial routes that are important to the local economy
  • Main access routes to shopping areas
  • Areas where known problems exist, such as exposed areas, steep gradients and other roads liable to icing.

The salt has to be crushed by traffic to make it effective.

Unfortunately there are some occasions where we cannot salt the roads before the onset of icy conditions, for example:

  • When rain is followed by rapidly clearing skies, salting is normally deferred until the rain stops to prevent it being washed off.
  • Dawn frost occurs on dry roads. When early morning dew falls on a cold road and freezes on impact. It is impossible to forecast with any accuracy when this will occur.
  • Rush hour snowfall. When rain turns to snow coinciding with rush hour traffic, early salting cannot take place as it would wash off, and gritters cannot make progress because of traffic congestion.

Tips and advice on driving safely in the winter.

Salt bins

You can get gritting salt from the yellow salt bins located around the county.

Find your nearest salt bin

You can spread gritting salt on pavements and other public footways, but not on driveways. Use a spade or shovel to spread the grit thinly and evenly across the pavement.

Advice on clearing snow and ice yourself.

Clearing your path or driveway - The Snow Code (MET Office) (external website).

If there is a road in your area that needs gritting, or if your salt bin needs to be refilled, please contact us.