Posted on Wednesday 25th June 2025
Staffordshire County Council’s surface dressing programme to prolong the life of its roads is already streets ahead of schedule for this time of year.
Crews have already completed more than half a million square metres of surface treatments, the equivalent of around 60 linear miles.
Since March this year, a total of 254 sites have been treated across the county, and teams are making the most of the good weather to treat even more.
Surface dressing involves structurally repairing roads from end-to-end before applying a new top surface.
This vital highway treatment is carried out on roads before they deteriorate too far and require more costly repairs. Surface dressing reduces the risk of potholes by sealing the surface and can prolong the life of roads by up to 15 years.
Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Support Member for Highways North, Patrick Allen said:
“Surface dressing is an important part of our maintenance programme, as it takes roads that are already in a fair condition, improves their surface and can prolong their life by up to 15 years.
“Our surface dressing programme is also designed to cause the least disruption possible, being carried out usually under rolling road closures. It’s an impressive operation that requires precise coordination of all the elements, from the sprayer tanker applying the binder, to the chippings being applied, the site getting swept and the road markings being replaced.
“Our crews are working hard to make the most of the good weather we’ve been having, to get the very best results out of our preventative treatments, and ensure more roads can get an essential treatment that will make them last longer.”
The county council’s surface dressing programme will continue throughout the summer and into the early Autumn.
People can find out more about the county council’s surface treatments and why they are carried out here.