Central Bedfordshire Council news and press releases

Leighton Buzzard High Street gets a traditional makeover with street printing

Monday, 2 September 2019

We have embraced the new street printing technology from Eurovia and have trialled this in Leighton Buzzard

Street printing is a technique which enables the footway or road surface to look like old-fashioned cobbles or brick paving but actually it’s a neat technique that imprints a pattern in asphalt that is then coloured to recreate the heritage look.

Not only does the technique create an authentic look it’s also a durable and safe surface.

As well as being cost effective to install the new surface requires minimal maintenance. And unlike paved surfaces the street print surface avoids potential trip hazards from uneven surfaces and weed growth.

Councillor Nigel Young, Executive Member for Highways Delivery and Innovation at Central Bedfordshire Council said:

Residents have been asking for the footways to be restored in the High Street for a while, but we unfortunately haven’t been able to source the same cobbles, this is often the problem with traditional style paving, so we have been investigating alternative solutions. The material used will weather and age like a natural material so the newly painted colour will fade to match the surrounding environment. 

We are continuing to trail innovate ways to maintain our roads and pavements, but this technique means we can do so in keeping with the traditional look of our historic market towns.

We will monitor and review the durability of this technique to assess if this material is something that could be used in other areas of Central Bedfordshire in the future, as the material is available in a wide variety of patterns and colours.