Let's grit serious - the when, where, why and how we grit in St Helens Borough

With more than 2,400 tonnes of rock salt stored away and a nine-strong fleet of gritting vehicles, St Helens Borough Council's highways team is ready to tackle freezing conditions head-on as the winter maintenance programme for this year gets underway.
From October until April 2025, the team is on 24/7 standby to treat seven key routes across more than 178 miles of local road network, acting on information from the borough's two recently upgraded weather stations.
Last year alone, the council completed 41 gritting runs, using 1957 tonnes of rock salt, covering 7,298 miles of road - roughly the same distance as travelling to Indonesia from St Helens.
For more information on the winter maintenance programme, including a list of roads that are gritted in your area and where you can find your nearest grit bin, visit: www.sthelens.gov.uk/gritting