Surface dressing programme to target Selby roads in need of refresh

Council highways teams are poised to begin a programme of road surface dressing work from the end of this week.

Each year, the North Yorkshire County Council refreshes stretches of the county’s 9,000km of roads via its surface dressing scheme. These are all done over the Spring and Summer months, between April and October.

The council says that its surface dressing solution offers a quick, efficient and cost-effective way to maintaining skid-resistant and waterproof road surfaces and helps to prevent deterioration of our roads.

It involves spraying bitumen onto the road surface then covering it with a layer of chippings. The process costs less than a fifth of the price of full resurfacing work, but can extend the life of a road by up to ten years.

Brayton Lane will be first up for a refresh in this year's programme. Work here starts this coming Saturday before and will later move to a further 17 roads during April and May.

Barrie Mason, Assistant Director for Highways and Transportation, said: ““We know the process is not popular with some drivers, mainly because of loose chippings, but the speed of the operation and its long-term benefits, as well as the short time for which motorists are inconvenienced, are important factors.

“It is important that traffic is allowed onto the new surface because chippings need traffic to fully push them into the road. However, it is also important that drivers keep to the speed limit to allow the surface to stabilise and to avoid damage to their vehicles. That is why we put in place a 20mph speed limit during the early life of the dressing.”

After dressing, the new surface is left for seven days to allow the chippings to embed then any residual chippings can be swept up before road markings are repainted.

Information boards will be erected in the areas where work is to take place and letters will be delivered to affected properties. The work will be subject to weather conditions.