Norfolk County Council’s annual spring and summer road surface dressing programme started this week and will see Norfolk’s roads get a new seal to help prevent potholes forming and extending the life of roads with a new skid-resistant surface to reduce the risk of accidents. The work continues through until September, to take advantage of the warmer weather.

This year 320 miles of Norfolk roads will be dressed, up from 280 miles last year thanks to extra funding received from the Department for Transport for highways maintenance this year

The programme will target high tourism areas and main roads first, so they are complete before the start of the busy summer season. The total programme will cost around £12 million and is a proven pro-active approach to highways maintenance.

Grahame Bygrave, Director of Highways, Transport & Waste said;

“The way that we invest in and maintain the roads across the county is what sees us come out on top for the past two years in the National Highways and Transportation survey for overall customer satisfaction. It’s fantastic to be able to expand the miles of road which will be given a new lease of life this year, benefitting from our proactive highway maintenance approach which is proven to help prevent potholes forming and offers the best value to residents. Maintaining our roads is key to enabling the Norfolk economy to both function and grow, as our highways are vital to every resident, business and visitor to Norfolk.”

Last year, Norfolk was the top performing county council in the country when it came to road repairs. According to Department of Transport statistics, Norfolk County Council fixed 92 percent of repairs reported during 2023/24, and in the same year Norfolk County Council achieved first place overall in the National Highways and Transportation customer satisfaction survey.

Surface dressing uses a waterproofing seal which consists of a thin layer of bitumen and stone chippings which is laid onto the road. This helps prevent water penetration and reduces the number of potholes forming when it freezes.

People living along the routes which are due to be treated will receive notification a day or two before the crews arrive. They will be asked not to park on the road on the day of the surface dressing work, or on the following day when surplus chippings will be swept up. People are urged to drive slowly and considerately across the new surface until it is bedded in, and Highway Teams return to sweep up the loose chippings. This is because the passage of vehicles over the new surface plays an important part in helping the new surface to settle in.

(Pic: Mapillary)