New gritters announced for Beds and Herts this winter
National highways has announced 120 new vehicles across 5 regions
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire are to see new gritting vehicles on the roads this winter.
A total of 120 brand new gritting vehicles will be delivered to National Highways this year helping keep traffic moving this winter.
The new vehicles are part of a two year roll out of state of the art gritters across the country with a further 132 more to come for winter 2022/23.
Regions receiving new vehicles, and the amount, are:
- Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire – 28 vehicles
- Kent, Surrey, West and East Sussex – 36 vehicles
- Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, part of Warwickshire, Rutland and part of Oxfordshire – 47 vehicles
- West Midlands, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and part of North Gloucestershire – 7 vehicles
- Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Avon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire – 2 vehicles
Duncan Smith, Acting Executive Director of Operations was at the National Highways offices in Nottingham to welcome the new vehicles:
“The new vehicles are an impressive sight and this year’s roll out once again demonstrates our commitment to keeping drivers safe throughout the winter months.
“They include state of the art technology allowing us to treat the roads up to a maximum of 50mph, 10mph faster than earlier models. We want everyone to travel safely on our roads and ask that drivers take extra care near gritters, leave a safe distance, overtake gritters carefully when it is safe to do so and at a reduced speed.
“When the wintry weather arrives our winter teams across the country will be ready to work around the clock to keep traffic moving.”
The new vehicles are equipped with technology which allows gritting routes to be uploaded directly into the vehicle, helping advise drivers where to go, which lanes to treat and drive in but also specific information to consider such as bridges, or other road features.
They meet the latest EU emission standards for heavy-duty CI (diesel) engines known as Euro 6 which are focused on reducing harmful exhaust emissions, ensuring National Highways procure the cleanest and most efficient vehicles available.