We’ll be kicking off our annual surface dressing programme in Wareham this year. We couldn’t get to these sites last year due to utility work in the area but – as promised – you’re first on our list this time round.
After surface dressing your road, we hope not to bother you again for another 10 years!
But there are a few things you can to do help us, and yourself:
- please move your car off the road before 9am
- please keep children and pets away – for safety and cleanliness
- please keep to the temporary speed limits and avoid heavy braking to allow the surface to stabilise and ‘bed down’
- check your shoes before entering your car or home
- remove stains promptly with a cleaner for removing bitumen/oil which can be purchased from any motoring store
If a vehicle is left parked on the road, we will tow it away (to avoid it being sprayed black and chipped).
Roads scheduled for surface dressing next week, starting Tuesday 23 April:
- Frome Road
- Hardy Road
- Barnes Road
- Shirley Road
- Stowell Crescent
- Encombe Road
- Causeway Close
- North Causeway
- Sandford Lane
- Johns Road
- Carey Close
- Walls View Road
- West Mill Crescent
- St Mary’s Close
- Wessex Oval
Some sections of West Mill Crescent, Wessex Oval and the Wessex Oval link Road will be left untreated. Due to scheduled SSE cabling work. We will surface dress these ‘bare’ sections during next year’s surface dressing programme.
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.
Will you be doing North Street and surrounding roads and pavements There are some really messy roads in the centre of town .especially at the top end of north street.We were forgotten when pavements were laid on the cross near the town hall.Visitors walk up to St Martin’s church.It is a shame it doesn’t match the rest. hope you will consider this With thanks
Hi Jackie, the best thing to do is report this using our online form: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/roads-highways-maintenance/roads-highways-and-maintenance.aspx?folderIds=5543,6301 where you’ll be able to plot the exact location on a map.
OK I don’t live in Wareham but I do live in stourpaine I would very much like to know why do I pay so much in rates when I think that covers everything and it seems to me its OK doing main roads i. e. New tarmac new road works and so forth but what I would like to know is side roads how come it takes 7 men 2 vehicles to fill in pot holes and not digging out the old and then filling with tarmac that seems to me in hindsight is not very good also this was done a while back I am talking about hod view love to know the answer
It would be nice if Ferndown got its roads resurfaced.
Beaufoys Avenue and top of Willow Way Ferndown are a disgrace. Also Queens Road.
Having lived here for 20 years these roads have never been touched in spite of regular complaints to dorset council and local councillors.
No reply in 20 years.
Hi A.Evans, the best thing is to report road damage using our online form: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/roads-highways-maintenance/roads-highways-and-maintenance.aspx?folderIds=5543,6301 This will be passed on to the local community highways officer who will assess it for any ‘actionable defects’ that need repair, and recommend it for any further action if necessary.
I have just acquired a Mobilty Schooter and yesterday rode it along Broadmead, Broadmayne pavement to try it, when I reached the section opposite the field the pavement I found in such a bad state, l turned around and returned to my home.
The surface is worn and very uneven, and I would think a danger to pedestrians especially as we have an ageing number of residents on this estate.
Hi Vera, I’m so sorry to hear this. How frustrating. Please can I ask you to report this using our online form, this will make sure the enquiry gets to the right person and is looked into: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/roads-highways-maintenance/roads-highways-and-maintenance.aspx?folderIds=5543,6301
Why are utility contractors not followed up when they dig up roads? I know they have to leave the surface proud to allow for settlement but very often , some time down the line, the edges
deteriorate against the original surface.
Hi Lynn, utility companies are asked to ‘reinstate’ the road after they’ve finished work and if we find it’s not up to scratch we ask them to do it again. If there’s a particular section of road you’re concerned about, report it to us and we’ll investigate: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/roads-highways-maintenance/roads-highways-and-maintenance.aspx?folderIds=5543,6301
Do you have a date this year for South Perrott. We are scheduled to have kerbstones removed from the walkway along A356 and white line replacing them to indicate the walkway. At the same time we have been advised by Mike Westwood that some resurfacing along the stretch will also take place.
Thank you
Hi Sue, the A356 has got a section scheduled for premium surface dressing this summer – we’re just waiting for the dates to be confirmed by our contractor. I understand the kerb removal/white lining will be done in conjunction with this.
Thank you for the notification. I was interested as I have to go through Wareham to an appointment next week and so need to know where possible blocks were and it took ages searching out where these roads are. It would have been SO much more efficient and for me SO much quicker if you could have highlighted these roads on a map for easy reference . I still couldn’t find them all.
Hi Philippa, these are all residential roads at the moment so hopefully didn’t inconvenience you. All our roadworks can be found on our online map – where you can search by town and select for road closures/diversion routes to be displayed: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/travel/travel-dorset/roadworks-closures-and-events-map.aspx
Is there any chance the short length of road near the 30 mph restriction on the Wincanton road west of Gillingham could be resurfaced please. It is pretty bad. Thank you.
Hi Ron, the best thing to do is report this using our online form: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/roads-highways-maintenance/roads-highways-and-maintenance.aspx?folderIds=5543,6301 where you’ll be able to plot the exact location on a map. This will be passed on to the local community highways officer who will assess the road and recommend it for any further action if necessary.
These informative emails are good, so often people get upset because they do not have the information behind the reasons why the council works the way it does. Parish councils do not keep the residents informed, either by news letters or indeed through their own parish or Town council minutes.
Education is needed to get councillors at all levels to be better informed and get them to explain to residents why things are happening.
It is noted that some of Ferndown’s residential roads are worn back to the original surface and cause the cars to bump along the surface.
Woodside Road, being one of them.
Victoria Road was the only road to be surfaced recently in Ferndown and one wonders just how bad they need to be for attention.
Some of us residents are worried that Ferndown, although contributing a large proportion of funds to the new Council, will be neglected through distance.
I have read with interest the number of roads in Wareham that are getting attention.
Are all the roads in Northmoor Wareham getting resurfaced? We have signs placed for the next few days, however I live on a side (access road) lane from the main Northmoor Way and there does not appear to be any signs stating this to be resurfaced? This surprises me as there are pot holes and the road material is considerably older than the rest of Northmoor?
Hi Jasmine, looking at our online map: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/travel/travel-dorset/roadworks-closures-and-events-map.aspx it appears that the main Northmoor Way, the link road onto the A351 and the northbound dual carriageway linking with Bere Road are being done.
It may be that your road is not suitable for this treatment. The best thing is to report the road defects using our online form: https://dorset-self.achieveservice.com/service/Report-a-pothole
I live in Stockley road and although you have tried to do a good job the road has high spots and low spots which are trip hazards we have already had a elderly lady in our street in hospital where she tripped on a high spot is there anyway this could be redone before the machines leave
Hi Sam, the treatment shouldn’t have altered the shape of the road as it follows the contours that are already there. I’ll pass your comments on to our surface dressing supervisor so he can check the work. Thanks for getting in touch.
Thank you I understand that but the road was uneven before the work was carried out Hence the low spots