North Yorkshire Council has begun using a new road repair treatment designed to extend the life of roads, reduce potholes and cut maintenance costs as it faces growing financial pressures.
The council’s highways teams are trialling Reclamite, a preventative treatment that rejuvenates ageing asphalt by spraying a water-based solution onto the road surface. The treatment is being used this summer on the local access road alongside the A1(M) between Leeming Bar and Catterick, the A684 bypass linking Bedale and Leeming Bar, and roads near Topcliffe.
According to the council, each application can extend a road’s lifespan by around five years and reduce overall maintenance costs by up to 40 per cent, while also lowering carbon emissions and waste compared with traditional resurfacing.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, Cllr Malcolm Taylor, said: “We are looking at increasingly innovative ways to deliver our highways maintenance programmes, which is vital as we face major pressures on our budgets.
“Our highways teams are at the forefront of our efforts to make sure services are delivered as effectively and efficiently as possible.
“While we are facing very significant financial challenges, we are committed to maintaining the county’s extensive networks of roads while offering the very best value for our taxpayers.”
The council says it is investing about £28 million in carriageway works across North Yorkshire’s 5,800-mile road network this year. Other preventative maintenance techniques include retexturing road surfaces and inlay patching to provide longer-lasting repairs.
The introduction of the new treatment comes as the authority warns it faces a funding shortfall of at least £20 million over the next four years following changes to the way highways funding is allocated through the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Council leader Cllr Carl Les said the Government’s increase in highways funding had been undermined by the revised allocation model.
He said: “Had the funding come directly to us like it used to for many years before it came through the mayor’s office, we would be at least £20 million better off.
“We need to be clear that this will mean we simply can’t deliver as many highways maintenance programmes as we had hoped, and that will impact our communities and businesses across North Yorkshire.”
The council is due to receive £63.8 million for highways maintenance in 2026/27, up from £57.8 million this year, but says future allocations will leave it significantly worse off than under the previous funding arrangements.
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