Surface dressing on roads to start next month

Surface dressing of roads in Buxton will begin next month, the county council has confirmed.

Brierlow Road, from Burlow Road (pictured) to the B5053, will be surface dressed. 

It's part of 16 miles of roads which Derbyshire County Council's Highways team will be working on from 1 June, but the only section in the High Peak. 

The other areas are Sparrowpit, Flagg, Ashford, Middleton, Parsley hay, Osmaston, Netherseal, Walton on Trent, Burnaston, Dale Abbey, Stanton by Dale, Sandiacre, Belper, Holymoorside and Walton/Wingerworth, Wingerworth and Darley Dale. 

The county council say the work will take around eight weeks to complete. 

Surface dressing extends the life of a road and prolongs the need for expensive resurfacing work. Roads that are surface dressed can last for 10 to 15 years. First any potholes are mended, then a layer of bitumen is laid which acts as the glue for the chippings that are rolled on top.

Driving over the chippings helps to further bed them in and any loose chippings are then swept away several weeks later. However, extra rolling will take place because of the reduced amount of traffic on the roads.

Roads can only be surface dressed when the weather is warmer and the materials can bind together more effectively and the chippings are less likely to be washed away by rain.  

Councillor Simon Spencer, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: "We’ll be taking advantage of what we hope to be good summer weather and surface-dress around 16 miles of road around the county. It’s important that we work to keep our roads in good condition and surface dressing is one of the ways we can do that." 

The county council say workers will adhere to social distancing and travel to sites in separate vehicles while carrying out the work.

More information about surface dressing can be found at derbyshire.gov.uk/roadsurfacing.