MORE than 60 miles of rural and urban roads in Dorset have undergone surface dressing as part of a £3m investment by Dorset County Council. The work, completed by the Dorset Highways team, saw 235 surface dressing sites treated over 82 days - protecting 64 miles of roads from water damage and restoring skid resistance.

Alongside this, Eurovia Specialist Treatments was contracted to treat 17 miles of the A and B road network using higher grade surface dressing materials.

Councillor Daryl Turner, cabinet member for the natural and built environment, said: “For the first time in around 20 years we treated residential roads – visiting nine towns – and it has been a real success in reconditioning these minor roads.

“Although we have experienced a wonderful summer, which has helped us deliver this work on time and on budget, at times the excessive heat did present us with some challenging conditions.

“I’d like to thank residents for their patience and for moving their vehicles off the road to allow the work to happen." He added: “Based on the results this year, we will certainly look at using surface dressing on urban roads in the future, allowing us to treat a greater area of our network.”

The final white lines will be put back in place over the next few weeks, and then the team will be disbanded and set to work on footway slurry sealing and drainage clearing and repairs.

Surface dressing prolongs the life of roads by sealing them against water damage, and restores skid resistance.