Winter maintenance
Winter service is an important part of Transport for Buckinghamshire's (TfB) maintenance work. It involves salting major roads when there is a risk of ice, clearing snow and reacting to other weather related emergencies.
Our fleet of vehicles can be tracked on the map below. Please note: Some of the vehicles are used on other duties during the day so they may be active on the map below.
Gritting Routes
Precautionary Routes
These are the most important routes to keep everyone moving. The routes consist of 1405km of the county's A and B road network, about 44% of the total network. Which is a lot more than other local authorities grit. We will also treat secondary routes and Snow Routes which is the reduced network we revert to in times of very severe weather.
- View our precautionary routes
- See our latest updated blog
- How we decide when to grit the roads
Snow Routes
When heavy snow occurs, the winter service may move to a 24hr working and we focus our limited resources on the County's most strategic routes (around 22% of the overall network). This round the clock operation will continue as long as the snow event persists (typically around 3 days) during which time only certain A and B roads will be gritted.
Once the snow has cleared the gritting operation reverts back to the precautionary routes as soon as possible.
Secondary Routes
These may be treated before a forecast severe weather event or in the event of prolonged severe weather when the primary routes have been cleared and treated. They include the following highway network:
Classified roads which are not included in the primary salting network
Unclassified roads serving communities of 200 dwellings or more and unclassified roads with a gradient of 10% or less
We may also salt cycle ways and footways in main shopping areas and other key pedestrian and cycle facilities. In general, the secondary salting network will be treated after the formation of ice or fall of snow in accordance with the Operational Plan.
Weather warnings from the Met Office
Weather warnings generated by the Met Office Weather Widget
Did you know?
- Precautionary salting covers around 1405km of road
- We have over 1,000 salt bins across Buckinghamshire
- A typical grit run uses 65 tonnes of salt (pre-wet mix) or 85 tonnes if used dry
- We have 25 gritting vehicles across the County