Winter road maintenance and gritting

The Westmorland and Furness Winter Road Maintenance Policy works on a preventative process where we pre-treat the Westmorland and Furness network with salt when road temperatures are forecast to drop below zero degrees Celsius. 

Our road network is split up into priority one and priority two gritting routes where the majority of vehicle movement takes place, connecting key community assets such as hospitals, ambulance stations, fire stations, other emergency service establishments, railway stations and schools.

Priority one and two roads combined account for approximately 840 miles, which equates to one quarter of the road network in Westmorland and Furness – the same distance as driving from Kendal to Zurich in Switzerland.

Priority one roads are gritted approximately within 2.5 hours of a decision to grit the roads. They carry a large volume of traffic and link the major economic centres in the county and the region.

Priority two roads are gritted within five hours. Wherever possible, these roads will be pre-treated before 8am. Priority two roads serve more local needs, but still carry significant volumes of traffic.

It is our aim to treat the Westmorland and Furness road network effectively and efficiently within budget constraints and resources available, to ensure safe travel of pedestrians and vehicles in winter conditions.

For more information about gritting, see 'Highways Maintenance - Your Questions Answered'

The gritting map highlights what roads are included on our priority network. Use the postcode search to find out what roads are treated near you.