Winter maintenance - road gritting in Luton

Follow this link to see our Interactive map showing gritting routes in Luton.

Follow this link to report an empty or damaged salt bin.

Follow this link to suggest a new location for a salt bin.

Follow this link to grit a road or footpath.

Follow this link for information on clearing snow and ice from pavements yourself.

Information about gritting

How does salt work?
The gritting vehicles deposit salt on the roads at a predetermined spread rate and the salt lowers the freezing point of water preventing the formation of ice. Traffic speeds this process as the action of the wheels breaks the salt up. The key thing to remember is salt does not atomically make snow and ice disappear - it takes time.

Which roads do we salt?
Luton has approximately 300 miles of roads. Not every road in Luton is salted. The list of roads treated is developed from guidelines that come from the National Code of Practice for Maintaining Highways.

The three types of roads/routes described in the National Code of Practice are:

Priority A (Priority) Strategic routes and principal roads, important classified roads and bus routes
Secondary All other classified roads, important unclassified roads and bus routes
Supplementary In prolonged periods of lying snow/ice, estate and minor access roads in hilly or exposed locations will be treated, and consideration given to important footway routes (e.g. shopping precincts etc).

Treatment of supplementary locations would only be considered when conditions dictate and when all other priorities have been fully and adequately treated and resources become available.

Priority and secondary routes make up 41% of the highway network by length.

Over half of Luton’s roads are salted when conditions require.

To find out about gritting routes in Luton you can follow the link at the top of the page to access our intearactive gritting map. Alternatively you can download a PDF version of Luton's gritting map via the downloads section at the bottom of this page.

When to salt?
We receive dedicated forecasts for Luton provided by the Meteogroup. The 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 forercasts

Salt Bins
There are currently over 230 grit bins throughout Luton in areas not normally treated by a gritting vehicle, typically at hilly, exposed locations and potentially dangerous road junctions. They are restocked with salt/grit when needed.
Requests for new salt bins will be assessed according to predetermined criteria. You can request a new salt bin by following the link at the top of the page.

Can a salt bin be removed?
If the bin is being vandalised , or becoming a nuisance then it can be removed for the summer.

How can I request a refill?

If a salt bin is empty, please request a refill by following the link at the top of the page, alternatively contact Highways 01582 510333. e-mail Highway.Maintenance@luton .gov.uk

Are pedestrian routes salted?
In very severe weather conditions, especially when snow or ice may remain for some days, consideration is given to the treatment of pedestrian routes:

town centre streets/main pedestrian routes
shopping frontages
busy pedestrian routes
hospitals and doctors’ surgery frontages
school frontages/routes
community centre frontages
steep sections of footway/footpaths
predominantly elderly residents areas

Snow Ploughing/Clearance
When snow builds up on carriageways, typically to 3cms depth or more, the decision may be made to fit snow ploughs to the gritting machines. Not all routes may be ploughed due to width restrictions or the presence of traffic calming measures. We have predetermined routes for snow ploughs. In prolonged, snowy conditions manpower will also be directed to problem areas for snow to be cleared by hand, often as a result of calls from the public. See the Winter Plan on Downloads for Plough Routes.