Work continues to maintain rural and residential roads as part of our annual programme of surface dressing.

Working times will be between 5am and 6pm and letters are sent to those farms, schools and businesses affected, with advice on road closures, suspension of on-street parking and any required diversions during these hours.  We thank everyone in advance for their support and patience.

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

This year, around 400,000m² (approximately 95 miles) of road will be treated with surface dressing.

From Tuesday 30 May 2023

Wimborne Minster  – Cranborne Road, Colehill

Corfe Mullen – Ivor Road

Corfe Mullen – Dalkeith Road

Stoborough  – Furzebrook Road, from A351 roundabout to bridge over railway 

Church Knowle – Barnston crossroads to West Orchard Lane

From Monday 5 June 2023

Kimmeridge – From Bradle Farm entrance to junction access to Smedmore House

Winfrith – East Burton Road, from the junction with Gatemore Road to the junction with
Burton Road

West  Chaldon – main road, west to east Chaldon

Crossways – from Woodsford signals railway crossing to junction Dick O’ Th’ Banks Road

Further sites will be communicated once work has been confirmed. In the meantime, see all roadworks on our map.

What is surface dressing?

It is a quick process, with bitumen binder sprayed onto the road to seal it against water damage and stone chippings spread onto this to restore grip, with these compacted down with a roller.

Drivers can travel on the road as soon as the work is finished, with slow moving vehicles helping to further embed the stone chippings.

A sweeper travels along the road within 48 hours to clear any immediate surplus stone, with line markings reinstated shortly afterwards.

Surface dressing relies on the evaporation of water from the bitumen binder (glue) for it to set, so can only be carried out in dry weather.

As the work is highly weather dependent, residents are being asked to look out for yellow advance warning signs in their area which will provide the most accurate information.

Working times will be between the hours of 5am and 6pm. Work cannot take place at night due to the necessary evaporation process and will not be carried out over the weekend or on Bank Holidays.

The list of roads set to be treated, along with more information about what to expect can also be found online. Please note, the list will be updated as more roads are added.