ROADS in and around Salisbury will soon benefit from a new treatment designed to extend their lifespan.

This micro-asphalt surface treatment is a fast and cost-effective way to maintain road surfaces and helps to seal them to prevent water damage by restoring the surface texture.

Treatment uses a mix of materials, including bitumen with added fibres, small stones and cement, to smooth out the existing surface and fill in small potholes, while the second layer creates the final road finish.

And traffic can return to repaired roads sooner than usual, as the treatment only takes an hour to complete.

Salisbury has been included in a list of areas chosen for the new surface repairs, with the work expected to be completed by the end of October.

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Councillor Martin Smith, cabinet member for highways at Wiltshire Council, said: “Our micro asphalt programme is an efficient and effective way to extend the life of our roads with minimal disruption to residents.

“The treatment is currently mainly used on roads without high volumes of traffic, such as those on housing estates, but we are also currently trialling its use on main roads, to see how it holds up to higher traffic volumes. If the trial is successful, we will look to broaden the use of this method to maintain a greater number of roads across the county more efficiently and with reduced disruption.

“We’re committed to investing in preventative maintenance like this, which not only saves money in the long term but also helps keep Wiltshire’s roads safer and more reliable for everyone who uses them.”

Other locations included on the repair list until the end of the month include: Pitton, Chitterne, Devizes, Chippenham, Bradford on Avon, Hilperton, Corsham, Melksham, Bulford, Malmesbury, Great Bedwyn, Sherston, Cricklade and Bratton.

The programme will then take a break for the worst of the winter weather, before returning again in the spring to treat various roads in Whitley, Chippenham, Rowde, Devizes, Amesbury, Zeals, Mere, Woodfalls, Salisbury, Lavington and West Lavington, with more to follow.

To find out more about the council’s highways maintenance programme, visit Highways maintenance overview – Wiltshire Council