We are responsible for gritting roads to make sure all main routes in the borough are safe and clear of snow and ice.
We also clear any snowfall and help keep local roads safe and clear for drivers.
See the latest updates on gritting, bus services and waste collections.
Use our Gritter tracker to follow our gritters whilst they are out and about - refresh the map every few minutes to see their progress. Gritters will only show on the tracker when they are actively gritting and will not show if they are carrying out other tasks.
Gritting is carried out when road temperatures drop below zero and when the roads are expected to be damp. Gritting is normally done outside peak traffic periods, but during severe weather conditions we may have to grit at all times of day and night.
Follow @grittertweets on Twitter for regular updates.
Busy roads which have the highest risk of accidents are classed as priority. All A and B roads are gritted along with other important local roads. See our Primary gritting routes map (PDF).
In prolonged snow and ice, more roads may be treated, but only when the priority roads are clear of ice and snow. See our Secondary gritting routes map (PDF)
There are some additional roads that we will grit when we have heavy and prolonged snow fall (PDF).
We also grit footpaths in the town centres and those with the heaviest pedestrian use (PDF).
We have reciprocal arrangements in place with neighbouring Councils to ensure that we all make best use of our gritting vehicles. This means that some of our gritters cross into neighbouring areas, and some of our roads are covered by our neighbour's gritters.
Motorways and trunk roads (the A1, the A421 and the A428 (from the A1 to the Borough boundary) are the responsibility of National Highways.
You can find out more about gritting in our Bedford Borough Winter Service Operational Plan (PDF).
We use a computer system that collects weather and road information at different sites across the Borough. It also tells us if any grit is left on the road from previous salting.
The Department for Transport (Dft) has produced a 'snow code' that gives information on clearing snow and ice from the paths outside your home.
Pedestrians and drivers have a responsibility to be careful in winter weather conditions.
On a single gritting run, our crews will cover over 480km of road.
We can’t grit every road across the Borough. We have to concentrate our efforts on areas where it will benefit the most people.
We will, as far as we can, keep the main roads free of ice and snow at all times to ensure a safe journey for those travelling around the Borough, and we try to ensure that most people live within a reasonable distance of a gritted route.
Use our Gritter tracker to follow our gritters whilst they are out and about in Bedford Borough.
You will need to refresh the gritter tracker map every few minutes to see the latest progress of the gritters
Busy roads which have the highest risk of accidents are classed as priority. All A and B roads are gritted along with other important local roads. See our Primary gritting routes map (PDF).
In prolonged snow and ice, more roads may be treated, but only when the priority roads are clear of ice and snow. See our Secondary gritting routes map (PDF)
There are some additional roads that we will grit when we have heavy and prolonged snow fall (PDF).
We also grit footpaths in the town centres and those with the heaviest pedestrian use (PDF).
We do not grit motorways and trunk roads (the A1, the A421 and the A428 (from the A1 to the Borough boundary). These are the responsibility of National Highways.
We have a team of professionally qualified officers who collate information gathered by our weather stations across the Borough, from three weather forecast updates everyday, and satellite imagery software.
All of this information predicts road temperatures and whether it will snow, and what time these things are expected happen. Our officers use all this information to decide whether to go out gritting and when.
Gritting usually takes place late at night or very early in the morning. A typical run takes 5 hours to complete and is timed to ensure that the gritting run is complete before road surface temperatures fall below zero.
You can find out when our gritting crews are heading out by visiting www.bedford.gov.uk/winterupdates or following us on Twitter at @bedfordtweets and @grittertweets
We use 6mm crushed rock salt to melt ice or stop it from forming on the roads during winter and this is spread onto the road using purpose-built gritters. The gritters can also have a snowplough fitted when needed.
For the salt to work, it has to be put on the road before the road gets icy or snow starts to fall. If it snows for a long period of time the snow will stick onto a road, even if we have already gritted it.
We try to avoid gritting the road during rush hour times as the gritters can become delayed in traffic and can get stuck along with the cars, buses and lorries they are trying to help.
If you see a gritter on the road that isn’t spreading salt, it will be travelling to or from the depot. Our gritting crews are given routes to ensure that they can cover as much road as possible without ‘doubling up’, so they do not start spreading salt until they get onto their route.
The salt doesn’t directly melt snow. It has to be spread before the snow falls and over time the traffic will then work it into the road surface. If snow then falls or road temperatures drop it will mix with the salt to create a saline solution which doesn’t freeze as quickly as water. This reduces the build-up of snow, and stops ice forming.
But if it snows for a long time or very heavily, it can fall faster than the salt can mix with the snow so snow might build-up. We would then use snow ploughs to get the roads clear- this is made easier by the salt too, as it helps stop snow freezing onto the road.
Gritting pavements is extremely labour intensive and time-consuming. In snowy conditions we focus on pavements with higher numbers of pedestrians, such as in the town centre.
Salting every single footway is simply not feasible – our efforts have to be concentrated on areas that will benefit the most people.
In the UK, we usually only experience snow a couple of times a year unlike countries such as Canada or those in Scandinavia. This means that investing in the infrastructure and equipment that would make it easier to cope with snow like heated runways, fancier snow ploughs, would be extremely expensive and massively under used.
In other countries, motorists are requested to change their tyres to winter use. Tyres with metal studs fitted to the base of the tyre provide good traction in snow however these would be only of very rare use in the UK.
We provide salt bins (grit bins) for the public to help keep the roads and pavements clear. These are generally at bends or hills where the risk of slipping on ice is greater.
It is not intended for use on private drives and paths.
If you live in certain areas refilling a salt bin will be the responsibility of the Parish Council.
To request a salt bin refill, please contact the Highways Helpdesk, on Highways.helpdesk@bedford.gov.uk or telephone 01234 718003.
Yes, we have more than 3000 tonnes in stock and continually restock salt throughout the winter.
Temperatures would not stop us gritting but if the temperature drops below -6C it is less effective.