Road "Dressing"

Surface dressing puts a thin layer of bituminous material on the road, which seals any fine cracks, waterproofs the surface and stops lower layers oxidising. The chippings are rolled into the surface before it cures to provide skid resistance. Done regularly on a good road surface the road will last indefinitely. Much less damage to the environment and cheaper. There's a downside with the loose chippings issue, but that's a price I think ought to be paid.

It's a barbaric practice, used to hide the potholes so that councillors can pretend they've done some road repairs. It wasn't good enough in the twentieth century, let alone this one. 

It's a scam. The councils have to spend their budgets and the road contractors want regular contracts; it's a win-win. Not saying it's a brown paper envelope job or anything......

There's an explanation here - https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/roadworks-and-maintenanc...

Basically, it's a cheap way to extend the life of the road surface.

useful for cats, when they are out and about and caught short.

I am very fortunate to live in Switzerland, next to the Jura mountain range, which has some amazing climbs. Generally no or low motor vehicles, and they do the same goo plus gravel on them here. It is a disaster. Unpleasant climbing, and positively dangerous descending - as each bend has berms of gravel which vary in location according to what the few cars have done to the road. It never lasts the full year, often a few big rain storms leave bare areas with just the bitumen emulsion left which is then shiny and can be slippery if damp.  It makes me so sad, going from idyllic riding conditions to stressful frame-damaging crap in a few minutes.

I rode up a freshly surfaced climb two days ago and got so much gravel stuck on my rear tyre that it blocked the wheel from rotating. I put helicopter tape on my frames in the places which normally get this kind of abuse and that seems to have avoided too much scoring, but it sounded awful, and I would for sure have fallen if I had been descending.

You don't live in N Yorkshire by any chance?

Kent have gone mental with it of late....sketchy as hell and it's pointless ....if anything its worse as 'hides' the potholes ! All done for budget and target hitting  

If it was left naked, it might cause alarm or offence.

In this weather, it can prevent the tarmac from melting in the sun.

It improves grip? (after weeks of 20mph skid risk signs and stone chipped windscreens)

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What good does it do other than spend the budget?

That, right there.  If they don't spend all the budget, they can "obviously" manage on less so they get a smaller budget the following year.

Bristol City Council surface-dressed a main ish road just after the beginning of Lockdown 1.  Practically zero traffic after that, for months.  A couple of months ago (so, less than a year later) they had to re-surface dress because it was all wearing off.  And we are now barely a couple of months later, but with traffic levels increasing all the time, and I really think they need to do it again...