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Derbyshire’s £4.2 million surface dressing programme starts this week

Published: 13 May 2024

Our annual surface dressing programme is set to start this week (from Tuesday 14 May 2024), subject to weather conditions, which is part of wider work to repair and improve the county’s roads.


Surface dressing is used on certain suitable roads to extend their life. See a list of the 81 sites.

Advance signage has gone up on these roads and there will be letter drops to closely affected residents.

In total, 465,000 square metres of roads – equivalent to 65 football grounds -  at sites across the county are planned to be surface dressed by the end of June. 

Councillor Charlotte Cupit, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport, said: 

“This surface dressing programme is one of the ways we’re managing our highways network and trying to improve the condition of our roads given the challenges we have been facing.

“Many may have seen patching resurfacing works being carried out on some of the roads which are set to be surface dressed over recent months. These repairs are done and then we use surface dressing where appropriate to seal the road surface and prolong the life of the road.

“Alongside our surface dressing programme, we’ve also got a wider capital programme of resurfacing, micro-asphalting and reactive repairs underway and planned across the county.

“We apologise for any disruption while these improvement works take place and while we know the chippings can initially cause frustration for some, we hope you’ll understand this is a positive process to improve these roads.”

On the day of the main surface dressing treatment, a layer of bitumen is laid which seals the road surface and acts as a glue for the chippings that are then rolled on top. Driving over the chippings helps to further bed them in and any loose chippings are then swept away at regular intervals, including on the day and a week later. Road markings (including cats’ eyes) will be repainted within 3 months. 

The work is very weather dependent and rain or road temperatures may mean the dates of some of the work may be changed, but sites will be kept updated with advance warning signs.

To check roadworks in your local area, you can visit One.Network and sign up to create a personalised email alert tailored to your neighbourhood, or for the route you drive to work.