Winter Service
We have a duty to keep public roads and footpaths as safe as possible for vehicles and pedestrians in adverse weather conditions.
We treat roads and pavements with salt (often called gritting) and clear routes to prevent delays and keep services open using information sent to us from the Met Office. Car parks are also assessed for treatment.
We're not responsible for all routes, check which roads and footpaths are treated using our interactive map:
Before each winter season commences, we conduct a review of the Winter Service and make alterations, where appropriate. The Winter Service Plan for 2021-2022 sets out Policy and general operational parameters, procedures and practice in Dumfries and Galloway.
Track My Gritter
Roads Services has been working on improving how they engage with local communities and can now provide a gritter tracking system. Track My Gritter allows members of the public to follow our 18 winter service vehicles as they carry out winter maintenance on our primary and secondary routes across our region during periods of severe weather.
The location of the vehicles is tracked on a map as they travel, providing their most up-to-date location. The map stores the last 12 hours of vehicle movements. Grit bins can also be viewed on the map and make it easier to report empty, missing or vandalised bins.
You can access the map using the link below or you can ask Alexa! Instructions on how to activate the service on Alexa are shown below
Track My Gritter will allow residents to see when and where gritters and snow ploughs have been working in their area but they should be mindful that does not give any indication or guarantee of the current condition of the road network. Road conditions can deteriorate quickly in severe weather, even when they have been gritted or ploughed. Drivers are advised to always drive in accordance with the prevailing road and weather conditions and where possible should avoid any unnecessary journeys during periods of bad weather.
You can ask Alexa for the latest gritting information for your location. This requires a few short steps:-
- Install the Gritter Finder skill from your Alexa
This can be done from the amazon skill store (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Linknode-Ltd-Gritter-Finder/dp/B0821F233X)
or
on the Alexa App on your smartphone. Search for Gritter Finder in the skills section. Select Gritter Finder icon.
Press "Enable To Use".
In Skill Permissions make sure both options are ticked, then save settings
- Set The Device Location of Your Alexa
You do this from the App:-
a. Find the Alexa Device
b. Go to Settings
c. Choose Device Location
d. Enter Your Address or Postcode
- Set up complete
Start by saying "Alexa, Open Gritter Finder"
Alexa will reply "Gritter YG68CZW was on gritting duty at 3pm. Roads treated include ...."
FAQ's
For further information on our Winter Service please see our FAQ's.
