MORE THAN 120 miles of roads have been resurfaced across Worcestershire as part of this year’s surface dressing programme which has now coming to an end.
The amount – the equivalent of travelling between Worcester and London – was carried out by the county council to prolong the lifespan of road surfaces by more than 10 years.
A total of 180 roads have been treated during this year’s scheme, despite the challenges brought on by the unusually wet weather.
The programme started in April and has moved around the towns and villages of Worcestershire.
Jon Fraser, from the Worcestershire County Council Highways Team, said: “Surface dressing is an important part of Worcestershire County Council’s road maintenance programme to prevent deterioration of the roads, improve skid resistance and protect roads against water, preventing potholes forming in the winter.
“Without it, we’d be carrying out far more disruptive and costly reactive work on a more regular basis.”
Surface dressing is a nationally recognised maintenance technique and works by coating an existing road with bitumen, covering it with stone chippings and then rolling it.
The process is highly weather dependent and can often be delayed due to rain or soaring temperatures.
Residents and businesses are usually given a generous operational ‘window’ during which the works will take place to enable the delivery of works to be flexible.
Visit worcestershire.gov.uk/surfacedressing to find out more about the surface dressing scheme.
