Top dressing. Road unrideable.

[TheLurker]

I know one or two others ride in and around Glos.  If you do you might want to avoid the Saltway between Lechlade and Quenington for a few weeks. 

They'd just repaired it (last week - and it was lovely) but early this week they top-dressed it and it's now an unrideable mess mainly because of the excess chippings turning it into something akin to a skating rink.

I've logged it as a problem on fillthathole (N^o  55026) but if anyone knows another or better way of chivvying GCC into returning the road to usability sooner rather than later I'd be glad to know of it.

[rogerzilla]

It's always OK *later*, but it can take a few weeks before they get round to sweeping it.

[Gattopardo]

Thought that this dressing was banned?

Its awful in the car and on a motorbike too.

[Jaded]

BBC News - Gloucestershire plan to extend life of 55 minor roads

[Datameister]

If its anything like the roads round here, all we have to do is wait til next winter, and it will all come off anyway.

[Deano]

If its anything like the roads round here, all we have to do is wait til next winter, and it will all come off anyway.

...after adding an extra inch to all the potholes.

[rusky]

Good luck, when I reported a similar situation on fillthathole, Brighton & Hove council simply stated that it was only the surface dressing & nothing was or has been done 12 months on.

[andygates]

Thought that this dressing was banned?

Why?

[vorsprung]

It seems to take some roads months to "recover" from surface dressing

But look on the bright side, it is proper resurfacing and once the layer of gravelly bits have washed away/ been swept away by traffic the road will be more consistent and generally better

[essexian]

"They" did this to a lot of the roads in Stafford making them inpassable for a while.

As noted above, the loose stuff does generally get washed off in time.... onto the cycle path. The one along the main Beaconfield Road ring road and along the A34 between Stone Hockey Club and the A50 roundabout are still, 8 months later, covered in the crap. 

[TheLurker]

It seems to take some roads months to "recover" from surface dressing

But look on the bright side, it is proper resurfacing and once the layer of gravelly bits have washed away/ been swept away by traffic the road will be more consistent and generally better

This one is likely to be in the "months" category as there's not enough traffic on this road to clear the excess chippings quickly.  The more I think about this the more pissed off about it I get.  Time for a cheese sarnie and a cup of coffee I think...

[Wowbagger]

Quite a lot of the roads we cycled on in Scotland last week were top dressed but the chippings seem to have stuck irregularly. That led to a very juddery ride. it's amazing how much more energy it takes to ride on a poor road surface than a good one.

[spesh]

It seems to take some roads months to "recover" from surface dressing

But look on the bright side, it is proper resurfacing and once the layer of gravelly bits have washed away/ been swept away by traffic the road will be more consistent and generally better

I hate top dressing, and I wouldn't call it "proper resurfacing", not by any stretch of the imagination. Proper resurfacing involves grinding off the top two layers of asphalt on a whole section of road and then laying and rolling out a new surface. Top dressing is merely spraying molten bitumen on the road surface and spreading a layer of chippings over the top. The speed limit imposed for a day or two after the chippings are spread is routinely ignored, which rips loads of chippings out of the fresh bitumen, to add to the loose chippings that didn't adhere in the first place. And off course, the contractors are relying on the traffic to "sweep" the loose stuff away, so it piles up in the centre of the road, between the wheel tracks and in the gutter, making life interesting when you try taking the racing line through some corners on a road that has been treated thusly.

Top dressing is the "go-to" method of resurfacing because it is quicker and cheaper than grinding off the top layers of old asphalt and putting down a new layer. The way the average Highways department is funded, the surface on any given road has to last well beyond it's design life, which is why most country roads in this country are becoming about as rough as a typical bridleway.

Did I mention that I don't like top dressing?

From a cycling point of view, it blows goats, especially if a larger size of granite chipping has been used, which makes for a particularly "draggy" road surface.

Then again, don't you ride a Roubaix? Most of the "road buzz" gets dampened out by the frame... 

[handcyclist]

The speed limit imposed for a day or two after the chippings are spread is routinely ignored, which rips loads of chippings out of the fresh bitumen, to add to the loose chippings that didn't adhere in the first place.

Even in a car, the mindless wankers who ignore the speed limit, either passing or blasting along the opposite way, spray your paintwork with a shotgun effect of nice sharp stone. I'd say 90% of the stone chips on the front and right of my car are made this way. Twunts.

[spesh]

The speed limit imposed for a day or two after the chippings are spread is routinely ignored, which rips loads of chippings out of the fresh bitumen, to add to the loose chippings that didn't adhere in the first place.

Even in a car, the mindless wankers who ignore the speed limit, either passing or blasting along the opposite way, spray your paintwork with a shotgun effect of nice sharp stone. I'd say 90% of the stone chips on the front and right of my car are made this way. Twunts.

You'd think they would realise that they also shotblasting the underside of their own vehicles as well. And the bitumen spatters are a PITA to remove from the lower bodywork.

[teethgrinder]

I dispise top dressing!
They, those evil b%^tards, did this to my local lanes the other year. They put so much on that holding a straight line was tricky. All I can say is that I'm glad I do some mountain biking and that NSTN wasn't with me!

Quite a lot of the roads we cycled on in Scotland last week were top dressed but the chippings seem to have stuck irregularly. That led to a very juddery ride. it's amazing how much more energy it takes to ride on a poor road surface than a good one.

Very much so. I reckon up to 3mph loss in speed on my road bike.

[andygates]

Standard highways maintenance is to alternate between top-dressing and "proper" resurfacing.  If you think you can get better roads, apply to your council for a highways engineer job.

Normally after a few days the car-tyre lines are fine for riding, at the very least. 

You could always report debris on the road. 

[teethgrinder]

Standard highways maintenance is to alternate between top-dressing and "proper" resurfacing.  If you think you can get better roads, apply to your council for a highways engineer job.

Normally after a few days the car-tyre lines are fine for riding, at the very least. 

You could always report debris on the road. 

I've been very gratefull for roads with top dressing in icy conditions. Smooth roads seem to get a shiny sheen whereas a rougher surface seems to give more grip. However, the amount of chipping they scatterred on my local lanes was silly! I've never seen that much before. And yes, it's only a matter of time until it gets OK again. But mostly, I dispise top dressing.