A MAJOR £16.2 million road repair programme across the Dorset Council area has started.

Road repairs have started this spring after many road are needing treatment due to predicted dry and warm weather. In Dorset, the work will then move away from busy tourist areas before the start of the summer season.

This financial year, the Department for Transport funding dedicated to carriageway maintenance in the council area will be £11.6m.

On top of this, Dorset Council Cabinet awarded £6.7m of additional investment into highway maintenance – with around £4.6m being invested in proactive, planned road repairs.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: "With a shortfall in funding from the DfT, and recognising the significant part our carriageway network plays in supporting Dorset Council priorities, we’ve committed an additional £6.7m of funding per year, for five years, to support our highway maintenance activities."

This year in the Dorset Council area, around 1.4 million square metres of road will be repaired.

Resurfacing works continue throughout most of the year. This rebuilds the various layers of a road to restore strength and shape, with drainage maintenance also carried out as part of these resurfacing schemes.

A programme of in-situ recycling is underway on minor roads across the county. This is a near end-of-life treatment for roads that have extensive visible defects, with uneven surfaces, sunken areas, potholes and cracking, and are at risk of structural failure.

Road preservation works are also underway on busy routes. This is an early life preventative treatment which stops water ingress and surface deterioration on roads that are still in a good condition.

Surface dressing will get underway towards the end of this month. The treatment seals the road from water damage and restores skid resistance.

A programme of micro-surfacing will start later this spring. This method fills in shallow cracks and holes and regulates out small dips and bumps in the surface, to provide a regular surface. This surface treatment will be used minor roads that form part of the National Cycleway Network (NCN) to help encourage residents to choose active travel.

You can find updates on the programmes of work on the Dorset Council newsroom in the 'Transport' section and on the council social media channels by searching for #HighwayFixers.