£3.8m of surface dressing starts in Worcestershire

Worcestershire County Council starts a £3.8m programme of road surface dressing this week.

The work is the councils largest surface dressing programme and will improve more than 350 roads across Worcestershire, including the Wyre Forest.

Worcestershire said spraying on a coating of bitumen to waterproof roads followed by one or more layers of stone chippings to restore skid resistance is up to ten times cheaper than other methods of repairing roads.

The council added it causes minimum traffic disruption as it can be laid quickly and is an effective tool when it comes to reducing the numbers of potholes that could potentially form in future.

Around 1.78million square metres of road will be surface dressed across Worcestershire – more than ever before – from now until August when the weather conditions are at their best to get the job done.

Councillor John Smith, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: "This is the most extensive surface dressing programme we have ever undertaken and the investment shows we're as committed as ever to improving things for those using our roads.

"What surface dressing allows us to do is catch a road half-way through its lifespan and give it an extension. It’s something that has been used successfully for a number of years and it offers great value for money as catching things at this stage removes the need for even more costlier work in the future.

"Obviously, as this work moves quickly around the county, there will be the potential for some disruption but everything will be done to keep this to an absolute minimum and the great advantage of this type of improvement is that the job gets done very quickly."

Once work is completed drivers will need to drive with caution at 20mph over such surfaces for the first 24 hours. Treated roads are swept after then initial 24 hours, then again after a week.