Why we grit certain roads
Which roads do we grit?
There are three different types of routes that we treat in order of importance
Priority routes are treated first. These include:
- strategic routes and principal roads
- important classified roads
- major bus routes.
Secondary routes are treated next and include:
- other classified roads
- important unclassified roads
- other bus routes.
In prolonged periods of lying snow/ice, when priority and secondary routes have been fully and adequately treated, and resources become available, we will treat:
- estate and minor access roads in hilly or exposed locations.
We will also give consideration to treating important footway routes (e.g. shopping precincts etc).
When do we grit?
We receive dedicated forecasts for Luton provided by the Meteogroup. These forecasts warn of the possibility of frost or ice on the road and whether it will snow, and predict the time those conditions may occur. A duty engineer will then take a decision whether to grit or not based on these forecasts.
When temperatures drop below 0'c gritting is normally carried out late in the evening and early in the morning to improve treatment performance during quieter traffic conditions.
If you wish to find out when Luton's roads are being gritted, follow @LutonCouncil on Twitter or see our embedded gritting alerts on the gritting and salt bins page.