Pothole prevention work to begin in £8m programme

Pothole prevention treatment work is set to begin on more than one million sq m of carriageway in Oxfordshire.

Eighty-seven roads will undergo surface dressing as part of Oxfordshire County Council's £8m highway maintenance programme, beginning in April.

The authority said it followed an "unprecedented winter" that saw a spike in pothole reports, with 2,400 potholes in the county repaired in January alone.

Andrew Gant, the council's transport management lead, said: "The places with the best roads are the ones that don't get potholes in the first place."

The council said it would be visiting 62 towns and villages between April and June to carry out the work with its highway contractor M Group.

Surface dressing is done after existing defects have been patched and involves applying bituminous emulsion on to the road as a binder, followed by chippings.

The process can prolong the life of treated roads by up to 10 years, said the council.

An advisory 20mph speed limit will be in place after the work has been been carried out due to the increased risk of skidding, it added.

Gant said: "Oxfordshire has some of the busiest roads in the country, with 4.79 billion vehicle miles travelled in 2024. Heavy traffic puts huge strain on road surfaces.

"Reactive pothole repairs are expensive and inefficient. Preventative maintenance, such as surface dressing, is far better value and stops potholes forming in the first place."

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