Our aim is to make the roads in Derbyshire as safe as possible for our road users and to minimise any delays caused by bad weather.
During the winter period we provide 24-hour cover to respond to weather conditions using a fleet of specialist salting and other vehicles.
We grit and clear snow and ice from around half the adopted roads and pavements in Derbyshire except for motorways and trunk roads, which are dealt with by National Highways and the roads in Derby, which are the city council's responsibility.
Our regular gritting routes are split into 2 categories − primary and secondary.
In heavy snow and freezing conditions, our main focus is on keeping primary and secondary routes open. We're also working with farmers and external contractors to clear snow from some roads which are not on these routes.
Primary routes
Are treated during the day and night and will 'pre-treated' before bad weather hits. Gritting continues 24 hours a day if necessary, as previously.
Cover around 1,000 miles of road.
Include major roads including all A roads and heavily used B roads, major bus routes, roads linking towns and larger villages and roads outside bus, train, police, fire and ambulance stations and hospitals.
Include at least one route into villages and roads serving schools, health centres and other community facilities such as GP surgeries and parish halls, where possible.
Secondary routes
Cover around 550 miles of road.
Are generally only treated in the day with the first run being completed by mid-morning. This helps overcome problems of parked cars getting in the way of gritter vehicles doing their job on residential roads at night.
Include some bus routes not covered on the primary network, particularly in residential areas, and roads to smaller villages.
Include well-used main roads through housing estates and villages.
Are pre-treated before bad weather hits, where possible, but primary routes take priority.
Principal routes
In extreme weather conditions resources will be concentrated on keeping a smaller number of vital routes open.
During heavy or prolonged snowfall the principal route network - consisting of key link roads and routes to hospitals - will be ploughed and gritted.
This may mean other roads on the wider networks are not treated until principal routes are cleared and open.
Working in partnership
We work in partnership with neighbouring councils to grit roads near the county border.
In exceptional circumstances where it is logical and more efficient to do so some councils' gritting routes extend into Derbyshire and we grit some of their roads in return.
Footpaths and cycle paths
Some district, borough and town councils have signed up to help us clear snow and ice from pavements and paths in some town centres.
We're also working with volunteers from town and parish councils around the county to help keep pavements and footpaths clear this winter. You can find out more about this in the snow wardens section.
You're welcome to use grit from any of the county's grit bins to grit public roads and footpaths. Please do not use on private property - you could be prosecuted.
Car parks
The maintenance of Derbyshire's car parks is normally the responsibility of the district and borough councils or Derby City Council.
See our page on car parking for links to the relevant councils.
When do we decide to grit
We receive regular and detailed weather forecasts which predict the conditions on Derbyshire's roads to help us decide when and where to grit.
During periods of very bad weather gritting the routes may take longer than usual. We'll use all our resources to clear the primary routes and the remaining routes in priority order.
Our gritter lorries travel at up to 30mph when they're spreading grit and drive according to the speed limit at all other times.
Watch our Gritter Cam video to find out what's like to be out on the roads gritting in bad weather.