ROADS in East Sussex will get a summer makeover this month as a £1.3 million surface dressing programme gets underway.

East Sussex Highways will treat rural and urban roads across the county, from Alfriston to Wadhurst, covering an area of more than 141,000 square metres or approximately 20 football pitches.

The 10-day programme begins on Wednesday, June 16 and is due to be completed by Friday, June 25.

Affected roads will be closed to traffic with signed diversion routes in place during the work, the schedule of which is subject to change depending on the weather.

Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, said: “Our summer improvement programme allows us to target the areas most at risk of wear and tear, extending the life of the road surface by up to 10 years and improving the water proofing and grip of the treated roads.

“This work, which is just part of the county council’s £15 million maintenance programme for roads this year, will benefit motorists in East Sussex for many years.”

Surface dressing, which seals and waterproofs the road and improves the skid resistance, will be carried out on 14 miles of road – roughly the distance from Eastbourne to Bexhill.  The work also includes some pre-patching works, replacement of road studs and markings and high friction surfacing.

The process involves coating the road in bitumen and chippings and relies on the action of the traffic using the road to embed the chippings. Once surface dressing is complete, the road will be swept after 24 hours, three days and again after a week. Road markings and cats eyes will then be replaced.

Cllr Dowling added: “We appreciate the road closures will cause some disruption but would ask road users to bear with us as this is short lived and means we won’t have to carry out more disruptive work for many years to come.”

More information about the work and up-to-date information about the summer programme will be available on the East Sussex Highways website.