Poor Road Maintenance

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Tue 20 Feb 2007 11:26
Poor Road Maintenance - Ed V
Is it me, or is the quality of all but trunk roads and motorways, with rare exceptions, becoming a liability? The A287 south out of Farnham is shocking, and the B roads and lanes are even worse, but at least I'm not normally travelling at 50/60 as I am on an A road.

To whom can I write at the Council? Is there any point? Who controls road maintenance expenditure? Can we sue for tyre/wheel damage?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Feb 2007 11:36
Poor Road Maintenance - Collos25
Yes you can sue, the insurers of the council I am doing some work for at the moment pay quite a large amount every year in all types of road related compensation and yes the roads are getting worse under this government spending on road repairs/renewal has decreased in real terms by 70% the councils just have not got the money many roads that were the responsibility of central government have now been detrunked and fallen on local councils without the funds to go with it, they now have to spent your hard earned money on PC projects and meaningless paper exercises just a fraction of the money wasted would give us a road system to envy the world but all capital expenditure on major projects and anything but emerency repairs has been stopped.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Feb 2007 11:47
Poor Road Maintenance - colino
The state of the roads seems to be inversely proportional to the amount of Council Charge levied. Lovely to cruise through the broad avenues of the council estate not so far away from me with its newly surfaced, billiard table like finish. The A road to it however is like an assault course and non-locals are bemused by the wheel trims strewn on the roadside hedges.
Please don't take this into another Torygraph government rant, with the recent CC announced here, it is clear that all the councils are trying to buy votes by reducing or maintaining last years rate (one, not too distant local authority, recently voted one of the worst administrations, has pledged to maintain services but has reduced CC!)
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Feb 2007 19:11
Poor Road Maintenance - Dunc
Check out www.potholes.co.uk - this web site has lots of info on how to claim etc...
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 20 Feb 2007 19:40
Poor Road Maintenance - ForumNeedsModerating
Totally agrree with all the above (this is a particular bugbear of mine too) & would add that , the overall condition & rate of decay isn't helped by the various utility companies & other digger-uppers not re-instating the road properly afterwards.

I know it's difficult to re-instate patches & trenches properly (compacting soil & substrate etc) bit it's not impossible & the half-hearted attempts at re-instatement you see sometimes are simple testimony to the fact that council highway authorities don't enforce or oversee any standard. A simple system of 'satisfactory re-instatement by inspection ' process would suffice -to which the 'offender' should be required to adhere.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link