Surface dressing works in Cheshire East

Here's a statement from Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee on the surface dressing of roads in the county...

Councillor Mark Goldsmith said:

“As part of our routine inspections, we recently became aware of issues with surface dressing works that were carried out last year along the A34 Maclean Way/ Birrell Way in Wilmslow, the A500 Shavington Bypass, the A49 Whitchurch Road, the A54 Buxton Road, and the A533 London Road/ Middlewich Road in Sandbach.

“The treatment carried out on these roads, which is used widely by councils across the country, helps to seal the road and prevent water from getting in.

“Over the past few years, almost 609,000 sqm of this treatment has been laid in Cheshire East and we have not experienced issues like this in the borough before. Of this, just under 26,000 sqm has been affected by these issues (around 11 per cent of the 231,000 sqm delivered last year).

“In most cases, including with the A500, only a section of the road is affected and not the full length of where works were carried out.

“We are working with our contractor responsible for the works to understand the cause and a full and thorough investigation is being carried out.

“There are no safety concerns with the roads, but we of course want to ensure the works are up to the standards we expect from a treatment of this type and are planning to carry out further improvement works when the weather is more suitable. We currently expect this to be during May.

“These works will be carried out at no extra cost to the council.

“We apologise for any inconvenience or concern caused and would like to reassure our residents that we are committed to managing the impact of these works and ensuring our roads are safe.

“Since being made aware of the issues, we have been carrying out regular monitoring and inspection of each road, along with regular sweeping to remove any excess chippings from the road.”