Hertfordshire County Council will spend nearly £1m surface dressing 10 key A-roads but may keep lanes closed to thwart speeding motorists.
Surface dressing involves spreading a layer of binder and chippings over the existing road to seal and protect the surface and restore texture and grip.
A council spokesman told Highways the cost of the works, which will take place during May and June, would be £873,000.
The council said that while the process itself is very fast, there will be loose chippings on the road for a few days as the new surface beds in.
While it sweeps the surface regularly and places warning signs on all recently-dressed roads advising drivers to keep to 20mph or less, not all drivers follow this advice, especially on dual carriageways ‘where some drivers may choose to overtake other vehicles that are driving responsibly,’ the council said.
It may therefore leave one lane of a recently-dressed dual carriageway closed in order to keep speeds down and prevent ‘unsafe overtaking manoeuvres’.
Mark Kemp (pictured), director of environment and infrastructure, said: ‘I appreciate that these works will be inconvenient for people, and I know that leaving lanes closed while the new surface beds in will add to that inconvenience.
‘I do hope that people will bear with us however. While the new surface may look a bit messy at first, once it has bedded in the result will be a better and safer road surface on these important routes.’
Last month the Road Surface Treatments Association and Road Emulsion Association launched a video to promote surface dressing after reporting a fall in council spending on the technique, despite higher road maintenance spending.
The sites that Hertfordshire will be treating are:
- A411 Waterfields Way, Watford
- A600 Bedford Road, north of Hitchin
- A10 Great Cambridge Road Cheshunt v A10 Great Cambridge Road Turnford
- A10 Turnford Link Southbound Offslip
- A1081 Harpenden Road, St Albans
- A1170 Great Cambridge Road, Broxbourne
- A4008 Oxhey Lane, South Oxhey
- A41 Junction with Two Waters Way Eastbound Onslip
- A41 Junction with Two Waters Way Westbound Onslip
- A414 Eastwick Road
- A414 Hertford Road, east of Hatfield
- A505 Royston Bypass
- A5183 Redbourn Road, St Albans
