Essential roads maintenance across North Yorkshire gets underway
Annual maintenance to prolong the life of hundreds of miles of road in North Yorkshire is getting underway.
Annual maintenance to prolong the life of hundreds of miles of road in North Yorkshire is getting underway.
Each summer, North Yorkshire County Council invests more than £10m in improving sections of the county’s 5,800-mile road network through its surface dressing programme.
It says surface dressing is a quick, efficient and cost-effective way of maintaining skid-resistant and waterproof road surfaces, helping to prevent deterioration, extending the life of the road by up to ten years and restoring a uniform appearance.
County Councillor Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Access, said:
“Despite a significant reduction this year in Central Government funding for highway maintenance, we have protected our surface dressing programme, because it is vital in ensuring we maintain the condition of our network.
“Last year, with the country under a national lockdown, we pressed ahead with the surface dressing programme, aware of how important it was to maintain the standards of our roads to support NHS staff, social care workers, teachers, delivery drivers, bus operators and others who needed our road network to provide essential services.
“This year, with the county and the country opening up again as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, this work is equally important as part of our support for businesses as they begin their recovery from the impact of the pandemic.
“This enhancement to the quality of sections of our road network year after year is crucial in ensuring that business people, residents and visitors, both within the county and from outside, can travel with confidence.”
The programme will run throughout the summer under Covid-safe working conditions. Work is beginning this week in Ryedale and Harrogate district. It is due to begin in coastal areas in May, moving into Hambleton, Richmondshire, Craven and Selby district through the summer, concluding in August.
The contractor will erect signage at each location before work starts.
Cllr Mackenzie added:
“This work is very fast-moving and the programme can be affected without notice by weather. This can make communicating exact dates challenging, so we urge residents to check the advance site signage regularly, because contractors will amend this to highlight any change in the schedule.”
For more information about surface dressing, including what to do if surface dressing takes place on your street, visit www.northyorks.gov.uk/surface-dressing