Residents across Suffolk are set to benefit from 421 newly surfaced roads this year – almost doubling the number of roads completed last year, as Suffolk Highways’ largest ever resurfacing programmes get underway, according to Suffolk County Council.

Residents across Suffolk are set to benefit from 421 newly surfaced roads this year – almost doubling the number of roads completed last year, as Suffolk Highways’ largest ever resurfacing programmes get underway.

With the start of the surface dressing programme beginning this week, 102 roads will be surface dressed, whilst a further 319 sites will benefit from a full machine resurfacing during the year.

Surface dressing is an efficient, sustainable and cost-effective maintenance treatment that prolongs the life of a road surface – it restores skid resistance and seals the road surface from water, whilst removing potholes and improving level differences of the road.

The surface dressing project sits alongside the programmes for reactively repairing potholes and machine resurfacing roads, all complementing one another. During the past six months, Suffolk Highways has repaired over 9,000 potholes and resurfaced 41 roads, with a further 278 roads planned for resurfacing in this financial year.

New for this year, Suffolk Highways’ supply chain partner, Hazell & Jefferies, has invested in new vehicles which allow the new surface to be laid in a safer and more efficient way. For example, the new vehicles eliminate the risk of hitting overhead cables or structures.

Councillor Paul West, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for Ipswich, operational highways and flooding, said: “We are investing an extra £10 million into or surfacing programmes this year and have been busy trialling new ways of repairing potholes quicker, whilst streamlining processes to ensure we can keep on top of a challenging period when it comes to the surge of potholes we see during winter.

“The surface dressing programme is one of a range of methods we use to maintain and future-proof our roads. Preventative treatments such as machine resurfacing and surface dressing help stop potholes from forming in the first place.

“I am glad that extra money going to road maintenance this year is almost double what we have seen in recent years, it remains one of our top priorities as the local highway authority.

“We recognise there is some way to go, however we are committed to doing all we can within the parameters of funding and resource to maintain Suffolk’s roads to the standards we all want to see.”