Surface dressing programme set to begin to improve county’s roads

More than 90 stretches of road across Shropshire are set to be treated this spring and summer as part of Shropshire Council’s annual surface dressing programme – work that will play a key role in the council’s drive to improve the county’s roads.

The 95 roads include 13 in the central area, 23 in northeast Shropshire, 15 in northwest Shropshire, 25 in southeast Shropshire, and 19 in southwest Shropshire.

The 2022 surface dressing season begins on 3 May with work being carried out until the end of July.

The sites identified for treatment (listed on the council’s website) are located across the county and include all types of road, from urban cul-de-sacs to major ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads.

Dates and details of work will be added to an online interactive roadworks map once confirmed.

Surface dressing is a quick, efficient and cost-effective way of preventing potholes, maintaining skid-resistance and waterproofing road surfaces. It forms a major part of the council’s annual road maintenance programme and is being carried out alongside other preventative and reactive maintenance work.

Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for highways, said: “As well as improving and protecting our roads, this important programme of work plays a crucial role in helping to prevent potholes and other defects forming in the future. Pothole treatment is very much about prevention as well as cure and this is one important way that we can aim to prevent potholes forming next winter.”