... are in the worst state that I can remember in nearly 40 years of motoring. Potholes, patchworks of indifferent repairs, sunken drains and manhole covers. (Oh, and speed humps too!)
I tended to think that those who complained about the state of the roads were exaggerating rather - things never seemed that bad to me. So if I'm moaning things must be bad.
But now, on anything but M-ways and trunk roads it seems, the situation is appalling. Our politicians would have us believe we are even less able to afford decent roads these days. Better that people spend their own money on repairing damage to their vehicles.
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Mad Maxy,
You are totally correct. I have never seen the roads such a state of dis-repair. Even the M8 Glasgow's so called motorway is not great condition in parts. The roads are in such a state in Glasgow that it is now not uncommon to have a car in front of you serving about the road to try and dodge potholes and this is on main A roads. I am convinced that who ever fixes these potholes turn up and pour some tar into it and then stamp on it with there boot as any potholes that have been fixed are back within a week or two. The council that maintain these roads should be ashamed.
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Another aspect is how utility companies & other digger-uppers, never seem to re-instate properly afterwards. Infill never seems to be compacted properly or too little is put back so you get impromptu 'road humps' or 'road troughs'. In my view, any 3rd party that disturbs the road surface should be adequately supervised by the local (or regional) highways authority & have a duty of repair if their initial works fail or fall short within 6 months.
There's an appalling new section (20-odd miles) of A55 across Anglesey - it's never been flat, with subsidence, surface break-up & half-hearted repairs since day 1. In contrast the parallel running A5 (built in the main by Thomas Telford of Menai Bridge fame) is still (despite the depradations of utility comapanies) as flat as a pancake - I often use this, in preference to the new A55, for its superior scenic & comfort qualities.
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I agree too.
They are especially bad on a 'proper' road bicycle with thin wheels and no suspension!
I'm not sure when the decline occured, it just seems more like maintenance of any type has ceased.
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The condition of the roads in my area is dreadful, the local highways authority don't have the resources to carry out periodic inspection any more.
Cheshire CC have an on-line reporting form on their website which I make use of frequently. Had blocked gulleys and inoperative streetlights fixed quite quickly following my reports.
I have also reported missing 'cats- eyes' and worn line markings on dual carriageway (A34)- no immediate fix, but I received a letter telling me the works had been programmed to be be done in approx 6 months together with 'improvement' to a nearby roundabout.
So report the faults to the highways authority- its just possible that they don't know about them.
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They are bad in Nottingham too, the council claims that manholes are nothing to do with them, but they are the water company's responsibility, the water company claims they are the responsibility of the council. Even new ones sink after a few years as they are not properly bedded down.
The councils are not maintaining the fabric of the road. If you hit a hole and show the judge large high resolution pictures of crazed and cracked carriage-way around a hole, you should win (as I have) as they have failed to carry out their duties to maintain the fabric of the road and carry out effective inspection and maintenance regimes.
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Maintenance on the country's infrastructure as a whole seems to have been pared to the bone. Have you noticed how quickly roads flood lately after a moderate downpour? just a few minutes of heavy rain is often enough to leave 2-3" of standing water on many roads. When was the last time you saw a gully empyting truck? Or a road sweeper? And don't those potholes and sunken manhole covers just trap rain water beautifully?
Still, floods all add to the climate change arguments, and people's perception that the weather is getting worse. It's farcical.
If you spend any time overseas, particularly in North Western Europe, you realise how shabby and dilapidated our roads and other infrastructure has become within minutes of arrival. Big business is building nice glass towers and immaculate plazas and shopping centres, but everything in between is 20 years past its best, and falling to bits.
It's embarrassing for what is supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world.
Cheers
DP
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I think that the utilities should be made to resurface the whole section of road they've worked on rather than simply filling in the hole/trench and patching. More expensive for them, more disruptive while it's being done, but much safer in terms of quality of road surface.
Not really a road anecdote, but some years ago my local council spent a lot of money re-doing the pavements along my road, replacing broken slabs with smooth, well laid tarmac.
Then a few weeks later a cable company came along and dug a big trench through it to lay cable TV. Then filled that trench in a very slap-dash way, ruining the smooth pavement. The utilities and councils should work better together to ensure that sort of mistake doesn't happen on our roads and paths.
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Tis a Cunning ploy by local Authorities, as they save money by not doing repairs (or by botching them) the roads gradually become worse, (but not all at once see! - thats the clever part!) you dont realise it at the time. Gradually the roads become so poor that vehicular speeds are "forced" down, thereby saving them even more pennies by not having to set up "proper" speed control zones. Only when there is virtual communal outcry over the state of a particular road do they placate folk by a quick "tar n chippin" re-surface, meanwhile.....all the other roads in the county are still quietly and sneakily degenerating, and "they" quietly re-appropiate the ill-gotten gains elsewhere.
Billy
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Maybe I should feel lucky that the gully emptying truck visits once a year (authority is the City of York council). I remember last time a few months ago almost getting a parking ticket for having my car on the road on the advised day by accident.
I do agree in general though. The roads are terrible - even motorways are not up to scratch at all.
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There is a new pothole repair system operated by some company (mentioned in autoexpress a month or so ago)which has recently got Highways approval. It re-uses old tarmac and blends repair into existing tarmac. It is clamied to last significantly longer than normal repairs. I think I read 10% of councils are using it with many more likely to sign up soon. I also read that councils who are using it claim much lower repair bills for following years. IF this turns out to be a way forward, then ask your local council when they will start using this system as it may save them money in the longer term.
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Yes, there is so much grit flying around from surfaces which are undoing themselves, I have had 3 chips in my windscreen so far this year...........
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I raised this with my local councillor 3 weeks ago: he has tried to interest the Highways chief but was told "it is not a high productivity method" .
The current "high productivity method" consists of a shovelful of tarmac in the pothole and bash it flat with the aforesaid shovel, it lasts about 3 months and the contractor then gets paid for doing it again.
Cynical people I know have suggested unofficial financial transactions may be involved but who would believe such a wicked idea?
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There is a new pothole repair system operated by some company (mentioned in autoexpress a month or so ago)which has recently got Highways approval. It re-uses old tarmac and blends repair into existing tarmac. It is clamied to last significantly longer than normal repairs. I think I read 10% of councils are using it with many more likely to sign up soon. I also read that councils who are using it claim much lower repair bills for following years. IF this turns out to be a way forward then ask your local council when they will start using this system as it may save them money in the longer term.
Our council uses the JETPATCHER system - totally rubbish! They out the recycled tar in, fill it up with stones, runover it with the rear wheels of the truck and disappear. Within a week, all the stones are loose again and the pothole's back.
But will they listen? No. becuase the head of the roads section doesn't have the guts to admit he made a mistake in buying the dreadful thing.
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yes so much for the labour goverments 10 year plan for transport. town roads are just awfull, ilook around sometimes and think the place is just falling to bits, bollards all twited missing not lit filthy kerb edging falling out pot holes drain holes . bus stops falling over. poor road markings, road signs theyve stopped putting lites in them. road closed no diversion signs . not enough street name plates
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One of my employees , a lady was killed last year on her way to work in a car crash after hitting ice on the road and spinning into a tree. There had been another non fatal accident at the same point an hour earlier. I was told by the investigating officer that she was travelling at less than 40 mph.
The coroners inquest was told how the gulleys on that road were filled with debris on the day of the accident in February 2007 .
This meant that water was flowing over the road during icy winter months. it froze that morning.
The gulleys should have been cleared in October 2006 but because the workload was too high this was rescheduled for March 2007.
The work was subcontracted by the council to a gulley cleaning company.
If the cheeseparing council had done its job properly she may still have been alive today.
RIP Pat.....
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It's the fault of the motoring public for buying more and more vehicles and travelling more and more miles each year. The more the number of vehicle-miles, the more wear and tear on the roads.
Incidentally, turning the steering wheel whilst the car is stationary (or nearly so) gouges great lumps out of tarmac surfaces. Drivers whose car has got PAS rarely take this into consideration. Before the introduction of PAS you just couldn't do it.
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The roads where I live (Southport) are in an absolutely disgraceful state. There are several roads that I simply will not drive down as they put the suspension and steering of my car seriously at risk, even if I drive slowly.
There is a junction (Weld Rd/Lulworth Rd/Waterloo Rd for those who know the area) that has a 'several times repaired' collapse right slap-bang in the middle of it. Likewise, just down the road from me there is a portion of the road that is obviously collapsing but all the local council do is just roll up and stuff more tarmac in the hole from time to time.
There are also at least two roads that I can think of (Upper Aughton Rd and Crescent Rd) that are periodically shut as the road has collapsed yet again.
It really annoys me when I think of how much I pay in VED and other motoring taxes, especially as I am sure that the roads in Southport are shortening the life of my vehicle, with little or no chance of recompense.
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>>The more the number of vehicle-miles, the more wear and tear on the roads.
I would have thought weather related thermal stresses & rain ingress, poor/absent maintenance regimes & bad reparation by utility companies played a larger part.
>>Incidentally, turning the steering wheel whilst the car is stationary (or nearly so) gouges >>great lumps out of tarmac
I 3-point turn regularly at two places (2-3 times a day) & by necessity have little option but to use PAS as you describe - I haven't noticed any deterioration over the past 7 years.
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This is a subject that has made my blood boil for years.It certainly deserves it's own thread on this forum. Why should the GAS ,WATER ,ELECTRIC, AND CABLE COMPANIES be given carte blanche to put their stuff under our highways. Disrupt our journeys and damage our vehicles.Who's idea was this?In my opinion all utilily stuff should be buried under a seperate channel away from the highway and the pavement. Anyone disagree?
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Again, don't get me started on THIS one. I think the condition of our roads, once the envy of the 'civilised' motoring world, are a complete and utter disgrace.
I drive a lot locally and know where many potholes are and tend to drive a drunken course to avoid these - goodness what I must look like to those who don't know what I'm trying to achieve.
Time and time again, local roads are spayed up with paint to identify where repairs are going to be undertaken but very rarely such remedial is, in fact, done. Worse still, I think, is the danger that our climate being very rainy, fills potholes up with water making one think that these may or may not be so severe that until one's wheels fall into what turns out to be a very deep, damaging one and not a simple puddle, after all.
Three years of driving my, once new, Golf has resulted in a few rattles and vibration noises appearing, as the structure of the car has succumbed to the pounding and punishment it has been subjected to.
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a lot of sewage pipes and water pipes were laid under roads and pavements before the motorcar arrived i think?
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Zookeeper, you're right...
What annoys me (apart from the fact that lousy surfaces make driving so unpleasant) is that we seem to be able to find plenty of money to over-engineer revisions to road layouts - traffic lights, controlled crossings with silly names, lanes and road markings in abundance, coloured tarmac and a profusion of signs - but there's nothing available to keep the basic infrastructure in decent order.
The irony is that many of the new road schemes cause congestion - and thereby pollution, more CO2, etc. Must be that these are done in the interests of 'safety', so therefore must be worth the money. I suspect that in many cases the cost-benefit ratio must be poor indeed.
Edited by Mad Maxy on 17/03/2008 at 07:55
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