(06 Jan 2026, 8:05 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Highways England are still responsible for ensuring major trunk roads and motorways are gritted, even when they don’t do the gritting themselves.

They genuinely don't on the A19, it's been ran as DBFO contract since the opening of the improvements in Teesside back in the 90's.

The A69 between Newcastle and Carlisle is the same, with the Haltwhistle bypass being the one there.

They're both shadow tolls roads (paid by the government rather than the user), with the tolls costs being used to fund the original scheme and maintenance and operation of both of them for 30 year with gritting being part of it.

It's really unknown, the contract runs out next year (2027) though, when it's been handed back to National Highways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkZKVl8iCqc - There's a video from Auto Shenanigans on it about the one on the A1(M) near Peterborough.