Latest gritting updates

Rochdale Borough Council Snow Plough/Gritter at work on the Borough's roads

Rochdale Council has developed a network of highway treatment routes that will be gritted dependant on the circumstances of the weather forecasts and conditions. They rely on information from the Met Office to inform their decisions about which treatments they carry out and when.

The routes that will be treated today (Friday 18 January) within the borough are:

18 January 2013 12.30pm A standard treatment will be carried out
18 January 2013 4.00am A standard treatment will be carried out 

Standard Treatment Routes - this is the treatment of classified roads, principal roads, most bus routes and routes to emergency service premises, key medical facilities and key public facilities.

A standard treatment will be carried out when the weather forecast predicts ice may form or snow may fall on the road surface across the whole borough.

High Roads Treatment Routes - this is the treatment of the borough's high altitude roads or roads which have sections where frost or ice regularly form.
A treatment of the high roads will be carried out when the weather forecast predicts ice may form, or snow may fall on the road surface at these specific locations.

Priority Treatment Routes - this is the treatment of the borough's priority roads to ensure the major roads network and key public services are maintained. A priority treatment will be carried out in certain severe weather conditions such prolonged heavy snowfall where the rate at which the snow can accumulate on the road is greater than the rate the snow can be cleared using ploughs and salt treatment.
The priority routes will be the first routes to be treated in severe weather conditions. The standard highway treatment routes will only be treated after the priority routes have been cleared and made safe.

It is rare we have to carry out a treatment of the priority routes only. The standard treatment routes will be treated in the majority of normal winter conditions, including snow. There is a strict criteria for priority treatment routes which mean it's not possible for us to add additional roads to the priority routes unless they meet the criteria.

Motorways - are the responsibility of the the Highways Agency. Around our borough the motorways consist of the M60, M62, M66 and A627(M). Any problems relating to motorway gritting and maintenance should be reported to the Highways Agency in the first instance.