Surface dressing will continue in August to treat sites that were postponed due to wet weather earlier in the programme.

Surface dressing prolongs the life of roads by providing a waterproof seal, while also improving skid resistance. It forms a vital part of Dorset Highways’ annual road maintenance programme, alongside patching, micro-surfacing, in-situ recycling, road preservation and resurfacing treatments.

Using a variety of surface treatments ensures that more of Dorset Council’s roads get repaired with the budget available, compared to using resurfacing alone.

The best treatment is selected based on the severity of damage and how deep the damage is, as well as considering how heavily trafficked the road is and the types of vehicles using it.

August sites

Wood Lane, Stalbridge – C94 to A357 Thornhill Road

Jarvis Way, Stalbridge – Station Road to Ring Street

Gold Street, Stalbridge – A357 to Park Grove

Mowes Lane, Marnhull – C15 to B3092

Tanzey Lane, Marnhull – Sodom Lane to B3092

Sodom Lane, Marnhull

Nash Lane, Marnhull – Jct Love Lane to Pilwell

Great Down Lane, Marnhull – Love Lane to B3092

Musbury Lane, Marnhull – Hains Lane to end of road

Cross Lanes, Melcombe Horsey – Jct C34 X-Roads to end of road

Melcombe Park, Ansty – Cothayes Drove to Melcombe Park Farm

Coniger Knap, Higher Ansty – Jct D30608 Stoke Lane to Jct D33317 Ansty Hollow

C34, Higher Antsy – Jct C139 to Stoke Wake to Jct D30608 Stoke Lane

Stoke Lane, Hazelbury Bryan – Jct Quar Close to Jct C34, Mappowder

The Green, Hazelbury Bryan – C97 Hammond Street to Jct Quar Close, Mappowder

Marsh Lane, Hazelbury Bryan

C20, Hazelbury Bryan – Jct C97, Mappowder to parish boundary at Povert Bridge

Piccadilly Lane, Holwell – Jct C71 to end of road, near Packer’s Hill

Holwell Drove – Jct C73, Sandhills, to Jct unclassified road

Chaston Lane, Buckland Newton – Jct Castle Lane to end of road, Brockhampton Green

Spring Lane, Buckland Newton – Jct B3146 to Jct C19, near Duntish

Cat Lane, Buckland Newton – Jct Hilling Lane to Jct Cranes Meadow

London Row, Piddlehinton – Jct B3143 to end of road

Back Lane, Cerne Abbas – Jct C19 to Jct C110

East Street (footpath), Sydling St Nicholas – Jct Waterside Lane to Jct C111

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.

Dry weather & daytime only

We can’t 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.

As this treatment is so weather dependent, dates are subject to change. Please look out for advance information boards, which will also be updated if there is any change in schedule.

Please use our online form to report road-related issues/damage. This goes directly to the local community highways officer for assessment.

Please remember you can check where we are working using the online roadworks map.