Herefordshire Council and its partner Amey are currently carrying out surface dressing programme on the county’s roads.
Surface dressing is a cost effective way of restoring and preserving road surfaces. It involves a coating of bitumen being sprayed onto the road surface followed by one or more layers of hard stone chippings. As the bitumen sets, the chippings stick to the road surface and are further embedded by rolling in.
The process is rapid, compared to many other surfacing techniques and avoids lengthy closures and disruption to road users, however drivers do need to travel very slowly on the newly laid surface to prevent chippings being dislodged.
Inconsiderate drivers travelling above the recommended speed cause chippings to be thrown up which can damage vehicles, property and pedestrians.
Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “We are taking many measures to reduce inconvenience to motorists, during these essential maintenance works and we ask that motorists take care when driving through our sites.”
To reduce the inconvenience to all we:
· Give advance notice of works to residents and drivers;
· Provide advisory and warning signs from the time of treatment to the time when the road is ready for normal use
· Regularly sweep the road and footways to remove loose chippings;
· Ensure that surface dressing is carried out to a high standard;
· Minimise hazards and disruption to traffic through effective traffic management;
· Ensure all complaints are investigated and appropriate corrective action is taken.