Long hot summer of delays as work planned on 160 Shropshire roads

Work starts next month and will continue until the end of August.

The Shropshire Star today reveals the roads that will be affected by the programme of works.

Shropshire Council today said that maintenance now will prevent bigger problems later.

But the works come on top of existing major projects, including the £12 million reconstruction of Shrewsbury's Meole Brace, the Ketley Brook roundabout and the Clock Tower roundabout in Donnington.

This summer's works will involve a series of daytime closures.

In Shrewsbury, Shelton Road, Telford Way and Woodcote Way are just some of the major roads to be affected.

In Shawbury, parts of Wem Road will be closed as will Longlands Lane in Market Drayton. The B5476 Whitchurch to Wem road will also be affected.

In the south of the county, the B4361 Corve Street in Ludlow will be closed to traffic for a time as will the B5477 in All Stretton.

See the full list of works planned here

Steve Brown, highways, transport and environmental maintenance manager for Shropshire Council, said: “Surface dressing is a simple and highly cost-effective method of repairing the road surface, which can prevent much more expensive work being needed later. It allows us to maintain a high quality road network on a finite budget.

“It offers many advantages: it seals the road surface which prevents water getting in to the underlying road structure; it slows the deterioration of the road surface and underlying road structure; it restores skid resistance to the road surface; it helps to reduce spray caused by vehicles travelling on wet road surfaces, and it lasts up to 10 years, maximising the cost-effectiveness of limited highway maintenance funds.

“This will be a mobile operation that allows us to reduce the time on site, and the rapid speed of the process means that disruption to road users, local businesses and emergency services is minimised.”

While the majority of affected roads across the county will be subject to temporary closures, some will have manned stop and go systems or convoys in place and others will be subject to carriageway incursions.

The works are dependant on the weather, as redressing can not be carried out in wet conditions.

The council spends around £9 million each year on resurfacing and surface dressing the county’s roads, ranging from unclassified rural roads to town centre roads to main ‘A’ roads.

Surface dressing, which involves applying and rolling aggregate ‘chippings’ onto a bituminous binder is a proven quick, efficient and cost-effective way of maintaining skid-resistance and waterproofing road surfaces and, as such, forms a major part of the council’s annual road maintenance programme.

The 2017 surface dressing season is due to start on June 12, with operations ongoing until mid- to late-August.

In total 166 sites have been identified for treatment across the county on all types of road, from urban cul-de-sacs to major ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads. Due to the limited width of some roads, over 50 per of the sites will require a temporary road closure for the works to be carried out safely.

Other forms of temporary traffic management will include temporary signals with convoy working where appropriate and, for cul-de-sacs, limited access will be available.

For the majority of ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads centre line studs/cats eyes also need to be removed and replaced under a temporary closure.

It’s envisaged that stud removal will take place overnight, followed by dressing and sweeping operations during the following couple of days, with the replacement of studs and road markings on some sites necessarily taking place up to 10 days later. Again, this will be during one night’s road closure from 9pm-6am.

Gareth Profitt, spokesman for Shropshire Council said: "In reality most of the closures will only be required for a few hours for the dressing operation, and we don’t envisage most being more than one day.

"In order to deliver a ‘weather dependent’ programme (operations can’t be carried out during wet weather), and to take into account any unforeseen event which may stall or change the running order of the programme, the information we publish online won’t give a wholly accurate duration of the actual span of works at any one time.

"In order to keep affected residents and road users informed of when and how long closures will be in place the usual procedures will be in place. Information letters will be delivered to affected residents and businesses and advance information signs will be on site at least ten days prior to due start date.

In addition, weekly updated programme information will be available from https://shropshire.gov.uk/street-works/latest-roadworks-and-road-closures/surface-dressing-2017-programme/

The surface dressing is part of an annual programme which is carried out in the spring and summer months.