Work to improve county's roads

Herefordshire Council and its partner Herefordshire Jarvis Services are currently carrying out this year's main surface dressing programme to 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, most importantly, people.
Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “This work is a necessary and essential part of our annual road maintenance programme and I would ask motorists to be patient when travelling along roads where surface dressing is being carried out.
“We are also taking many measures to reduce inconvenience to motorists,” he added.
These measures are to:
 
• 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 complaints are investigated and appropriate corrective action is taken.

Ends

Press release issued: July 17 2007