to ask for advice from any legal peeps?

[ginghamstarfish]

At my wits' end and wonder if anyone can offer advice? Live on a busyish road, house right on roadside. This road is a 2 mile stretch between edge of town and a village, with our house and a few other residents down a small lane. We have triple glazed windows at the front, up and down, and never had a problem with traffic noise until recent council road resurfacing - was done with tarmac and loose chips, which I've looked up and is the cheapest (and noisiest) type of surface used in rural areas. Since this was done the traffic noise has increased a lot, but driving a few hundred yards down the road you can hear the road noise change and is a lot quieter as the surface there is different (no houses there, just fields). We are woken up in the night now by noise from passing lorries, motorbikes etc, and measured from the driveway the noise level is up to 85db which I believe is motorway levels and cited as harmful to health. When someone comes to the front door we can't speak until there is a break in the traffic. We would like to think, but don't know, that given the above levels we can ask the council to resurface this bit which is directly affecting us? Any legal professionals able to advise if this is possible?

I really do feel for you but I think your course of action is to write to the highways department at the council outlining the problems and inviting a response within a sensible amount of time (e.g. 28 days). If you don't get a reposnse or it's not what you wanted, escalate it legally. You might be better off getting together with your neighbours and writing as a body rather than an individual.

Contact your local councillor for advice.

Thanks, @ginswinger. Am awaiting the result of two council meetings, local councillor and community council will present it to the council, but sorry to say I'm not optimistic, hence this question.
Asked neighbours a little while ago, and they are not as affected as they are a bit away from the road, and sleep at the back of their houses, (we have only two bedrooms both at the front) but may try again.
We are prepared to do as you suggest, just waiting for the result of the meetings then we can say we have tried that avenue. However it's the 'escalate legally' that is the problem. Is this something we could do ourselves? Does a council have any legal requirement to ensure that noise levels for residents are not at or above harmful levels?