National Highways has said new high-tech gritters will be in operation across major routes in Yorkshire this winter.

Thirty-seven new vehicles have joined National Highways’ winter fleet this year as part of a national £44m investment.

Motorways and trunk roads in the county are gritted by government-owned National Highways, which was formerly Highways England.

North Yorkshire County Council, which has a winter maintenance service budget of £7.5 million, is responsible for gritting other local routes.

Earlier this year NYCC rejected a call to expand the network of Harrogate district routes it grits each winter.

In addition to the new gritters, National Highways has created two new winter maintenance depots, one just off the A64 at Malton in North Yorkshire and another off the A63 near Newport in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

From Newport, the gritters will salt more than 70 miles of the M62 and A63 from Hull docks to Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire.

Malton will treat 61 miles of the A64 from near the coast at Scarborough to York.

The highways agency says the new gritters:

• can travel at a maximum speed of 50mph when salt spreading – ten miles an hour faster than earlier vehicles
• are the cleanest and most efficient diesel heavy goods vehicles available in the UK
• allow routes to be uploaded directly into the vehicle cockpit so that drivers have the latest information on where and when to salt
• enable drivers to choose the most appropriate treatment in different road conditions.

Read More:

• New gritter tracker shows which roads in Harrogate district are being treated
• Ripon company supplies gritters for London’s roads

Senior Network Planner for Resilience Gordon Thackeray, who heads up National Highways’ winter operations in the region, said:

“We are delighted the rollout of our new state-of-the-art gritting vehicles is complete, with every machine in position and ready for the winter season ahead to help keep our road users safer on the roads, whatever weather conditions we face.

“National Highways always strives to explore and embrace innovation to benefit our road users. These vehicles are environmentally friendly, have cutting-edge technological features and can treat the roads at a higher speed than older models. 

“We now have a total of 58 vehicles ready to be deployed across Yorkshire and the North East and all of them will play their part in helping our autumn and winter operations team, including our drivers, to carry out their vital work over the next few months to treat the road surfaces whenever and wherever it is needed.”

True grit – key North Yorkshire facts 

• The county’s gritters are responsible for one of England’s largest road networks.
• 55,000 tonnes of salt is stocked in preparation for winter and the authority has 14 weather cameras set up to keep an eye on the roads.
• Crews are on call 24 hours a day and are usually out at 5am to grit the county’s road network.