With the fantastic weather, our surface dressing highway fixers have been making great progress and are blazing round north Dorset.

Work completed week from Monday 24 June to Friday 5 July:

• Langton Road – A354 Blandford Bypass to 150m past end of wall, Langton Long
• West End – A350 to North Farm, Spetisbury
• Bushes Road – from A350, Stourpaine to C13
• Bramblecombe Road – C34, Cross Lanes, to Newton Farm Access, near Bramblecombe
• Bramblecombe Road – Newton Farm Access south to C110, near Bramblecombe
• Pleck Lane – from Ansty Hollow to Rawlsbury Farm, Higher Ansty
• C49 – C139, No Man’s Land to C98 Cuckoo Lane, Bulbarrow Hill
• Dark Lane, Fifehead Neville
• Zoar Lane – from 376250-109264 To C98, Fifehead Neville
• Zoar Lane – from Stockfield Drove to 376250-109264, Fifehead Neville
• Stockfield Drove – Back Lane to C100, Hazelbury Bryan
• Garlands Lane – from Church Walk to C100, Okeford Fitzpaine
• Common Lane – New Road to end, Broad Oak
• Angers Lane – New Road to Banbury Cross, Broad Oak
• Ham Lane – Church Lane to end of housing, Hammoon
• D31722 – C14 Lower Road to Ham Lane, Hammoon
• D31722 – from housing at Hammoon to A347 New Cross Gate
• Lanchard Lane – C99 Shillingstone Lane to end, Shillingstone
• Everetts Lane – Gun Lane to adoption end, Shillingstone
• Gunn Lane – from A357 to Wessex Avenue, Shillingstone
• Pepper Hill – from Wessex Ave to Coombe Road, Shillingstone
• Brodham Way – Puxey Lane to Gunn Lane/Pepper Hill, Shillingstone
• White Pit – Coombe Road to A357, Shillingstone
• Church Road – A357 around crescent back to A347, Shillingstone

Over the next two weeks, starting on Monday 8 July, we plan to treat:

• Castle Lane – A357, New Cross Gate to Castle Avenue, Okeford Fitzpaine
• Barnes Close – Station Road to end, Sturminster Newton
• D31407 – from B3091 to High Street, West Orchard
• High Street – from D31408 to D31405 at Orchard Water Bridge, West Orchard
• High Street – from B3091 to D31407 at Vale Farm, West Orchard
• Village Road – from D31405 at Orchard Water Bridge to C138, West Orchard
• B3091 East Orchard School to Winchells Farm
• Stocky Lane – B3091 to Village Road at Bowling Green Farm, East Orchard
• Penn Hill – C52 crossroads, Bedchester to parish Boundary at Pen Copse
• D31305 – from Paynthouse Farm to B3091, Guy’s Marsh
• D31305 – from Green Lane to Paynthouse Farm, Guy’s Marsh
• Green Lane – Stour Row to Guy’s Marsh turning, Shaftesbury
• Green Lane – from Guy’s Marsh turning to B3091, Hartgrove

As we head into more rural areas, and work on lesser-known roads, please remember you can check where we are working by using the online roadworks map.

About the work

Our surface dressing gang is working 9am to 4pm in urban areas and 8am to 4pm in rural areas.

Surface dressing doesn’t take long and the road can be driven on as soon as it’s finished. Depending on the length of the road you live on, the road will be closed for around 1-2 hours while the treatment takes place.

There will be an advisory 20mph speed limit after the work while the loose stones ‘bed down’ into the bitumen. Travelling at this reduced speed will prevent skidding on the loose chippings, help ‘bed down’ the material and will save your paint work!

We sweep the road one to two days after the work to get rid of excess stones.

White lining reinstatement will follow on from this and is generally a week or so later.

Sorry for the inconvenience

We cannot work overnight as surface dressing relies on the evaporation of water from the bitumen binder (glue) for it to set, and it needs traffic to travel on the new surface for it to ‘bed down’ and lock onto the old surface.

We also cannot work in wet weather – any amount of rain or surface water dilutes the bitumen and so doesn’t hold the chippings in place – which is why our surface dressing programme runs from April through to September.

As this treatment is so weather dependent, dates are subject to change.