State of the Roads

[Matty]

It's just unbelievable at this point. I know it's always bad after winter, but every winter seems to be progressively worse with little improvement. Even worse after heavy rain when they're hidden under puddles.

I suspect it'll continue to get worse over the years...we all need to go back to 15" wheels with 55 sidewalls.

[Mito Man]

Yeah, it’s shit.
I could write 1000 words slating it but I’m not in the mood and we all know it’s shit.

[jamcg]

Private car parks are currently making the roads look good around here. One of our local shopping centres with B&M, the range, food warehouse and Smyths toys is constantly busy, but at one point it has a pothole that spans something like 10ft by 2ft

[GG.]

I drove back from Oxford to London this morning and there was a council worker with his spray can out marking areas for repair not far from where I live. It was tempting to say to tell him to draw a line across the road where he was stood and another by the roundabout 400m away as the whole road needs resurfacing - not just a couple of the worst potholes

[Mito Man]

I just checked - spring budget 2023 an extra £200 million set aside just for pot hole repairs over the next 12 months.
It’s been over 12 months now and what few potholes that have been repaired locally have all failed already. Dare I say that £200 million would have gone further in South Africa.

They like marking the potholes as it means that if someone claims for damage after a pothole has been noted and marked there’s no compensation. In past years they would mark the pothole and repair them within a week. Now they use up the full time allocation which can be over a month depending on guidelines for the severity of the pothole.

Pothole repairs to cars cost almost half a billion £ last year. Brought to you by the same cunts who keep warning us we’re killing the planet and want to ban everything but find it acceptable that we throw away half a billion in automotive components because they can’t fulfil their obligation to keep a road in decent condition despite charging for it.

[Gavster]

They've been filling the potholes outside my house this morning, however, the road looks like it was last resurfaced in 1923 so we're deep into polishing-a-turd territory.

[mik]

Didn't Flewy tell a story about his dad carrying in his car a can of the paint they use to mark up these potholes, and making a point of marking up additional minor road apertures when he came across painted-up sections of road

[V8Granite]

I drove back from Oxford to London this morning and there was a council worker with his spray can out marking areas for repair not far from where I live. It was tempting to say to tell him to draw a line across the road where he was stood and another by the roundabout 400m away as the whole road needs resurfacing - not just a couple of the worst potholes

Be careful what you wish for, the current trend is spray a leveling layer of gloopy black crap, sprinkle with gravel, another fine spray of crap, ruin all the roads and have stones flying everywhere. It is then oddly grippy till you brake really hard and tear it up, I did this on my bike so a car can’t do that well on it.

Or spray the road with tarmac in the middle of the day, put a warning sign after you have no option to take a different route. Put so much grey pea gravel down that the ruts are horrendous, puss everyone off by stopping g traffic so everyone turns around and while turning the wheels, creates 100 potholes.

I blame H+S wankers who think you need 200 co es and 5 spotters for anything involving removing hands from pockets.
The desperate lunge to spend the rest of the years budget.
A lack of craft, it’s just stones and goo innit.
Awful traffic planning.

Dave!

[Mito Man]

KCC, on the brink of bankruptcy, cutting services all the time. But they get shiny new vans for their useless surveyors who do fuck all judging the state of the roads

[Swervin_Mervin]

KCC, on the brink of bankruptcy, cutting services all the time. But they get shiny new vans for their useless surveyors who do fuck all judging the state of the roads

And yet the road it's snapped on looks perfect and even has road markings!

Based on my travels I'd still nominate Trafford and Cheshire East as two of the absolute worst for the state of the roads.

[Ascender]

I'm considering reporting all of the pot holes and damaged speed bumps on my normal daily routes as I'm just waiting to damage a wheel and/or tyre at some point and to have any hope of getting some money back from the council they need to have been told about them (I think). Although I still suspect there's next to no chance of getting any cash out in the event of damage.

[integrale_evo]

Weirdly on my commute they repaired a foot square section of road where the top inch or so of surface had broken away, and the damaged drain surround I reported, but not the massive pothole 1/4 mile away I reported at the same time which is about 8 inches deep and spewing out rocks, which someone has placed a traffic cone in.

I expect that one was in the too difficult pile and needs a different department

Around here it’s not just potholes, there are so many rusted through and broken signs just laying strewn on the verges at the side of the road leading lovely rusty spikes sticking up out of the ground.

[mik]

I'm considering reporting all of the pot holes and damaged speed bumps on my normal daily routes as I'm just waiting to damage a wheel and/or tyre at some point and to have any hope of getting some money back from the council they need to have been told about them (I think). Although I still suspect there's next to no chance of getting any cash out in the event of damage.

I don't think there is a harmonised approach for all councils, but back in 2013 I lost both tyres on one side of the VXR8 due to a huge pothole. The rear had only been on for 3 weeks.

(Glasgow City) Council position was that they allow a "reasonable time" to repair potholes that are either
a/ alerted by the public
b/ identified on their monthly inspections

Their position was that nothing had been flagged in relation to "my pothole" - hence they weren't liable.

If I wanted to contest that, I could pay them to provide me with copies of their paperwork.... I probably should have done this, as I suspect their documentation wasn't squeaky-clean, but work was crazy at the time and it just slipped off the radar.

It does highlight however that we should all probably follow our respective council process for alerting of potholes. Without this we are entirely reliant on Council Inspections, and if they should fail to document the existence of a pothole during such an inspection, then in a lovely catch-22 loop they declare they aren't liable for any damage to vehicles caused by it....

[integrale_evo]

Yes, I always thought you couldn’t claim unless the pothole was known about, they can’t reasonably be expected to inspect every single road on a daily basis. But once reported should be repaired in a reasonable time.

Www.fixmystreet.com

Put a point on the map and report the problem. They automatically send it to the relevant authority, and you usually get an automated response back within a couple of hours.

Don’t know if it works in scotlandshire though.

[mik]

Don’t know if it works in scotlandshire though.

Good link Harry - I just checked and there are a few issues documented around my locale, and clicking on them reveals a comment that the correct council entity was noted 2mins later - so it does appear to work for us Jocklanders too.

I've been using the council site - it's quick & easy and they take what3words codes.

Unfortunately entries made there aren't obviously carried over to fixmystreet to give a full picture. I can also see some that are aged (nov-23 for example) and almost certainly fixed now - I guess they stay visible on fixmystreet until someone confirms the issue has been addressed.

[Mito Man]

I also use the council site which is no more onerous than the alternatives, it's handy as it shows every reported pothole on an interactive map so you don't waste time.
I've just checked the email from my last report and it says they "aim to fix potholes within 28 days" and there's nothing concrete regarding timelines. I'm not sure how anyone manages to claim damage from the council. So they must know about the pothole, but then they need a reasonable time to repair it. But that reasonable time isn't even firmly set anywhere. I imagine they'll eventually give up in an out of court settlement if it's really taking the piss like 3 months to fix a crater.

[Ascender]

Yes, I always thought you couldn’t claim unless the pothole was known about, they can’t reasonably be expected to inspect every single road on a daily basis. But once reported should be repaired in a reasonable time.

Www.fixmystreet.com

Put a point on the map and report the problem. They automatically send it to the relevant authority, and you usually get an automated response back within a couple of hours.

Don’t know if it works in scotlandshire though.

That's brilliant Thanks @integrale_evo.

Much easier than my council's form and I can see people have been reporting some of the really bad areas. Some of them for a very, very long time with nothing fixed.

Like I said before, when we were in Austria, it took a few hours of driving before we realised what was strange. There wasn't a single pothole in the drive from the airport, through the town, out to the country and up into the mountains.

[Simon]

I thought everyone knew about fixmystreet?

Its got an app too, at least on Android. I use it all the time for reporting things on footpaths, potholes on roads etc. Really useful.

Here you app.

Apple store

Google Play store

[Jobbo]

When you have reported it, tell us how quickly they actually fix it. Chances are they will inspect straight away, decide it's not worth fixing because it'll be winter in just a few months and it's scheduled for surface dressing in 2028 and then, if you're lucky, spray some paint around it. The sprayed paint wore off round the ones near our old house before the road was resurfaced. Amazingly, the road was actually scheduled for resurfacing and the local farmer complained it would be inconvenient and they missed a large stretch out totally

Best tip I've seen is that once there are some potholes marked with spray paint for repair - go and get some similar spray paint and spray any others nearby so they all get done (if the repair people are ever sent out).

[mik]

Didn't Flewy tell a story about his dad carrying in his car a can of the paint they use to mark up these potholes, and making a point of marking up additional minor road apertures when he came across painted-up sections of road

Best tip I've seen is that once there are some potholes marked with spray paint for repair - go and get some similar spray paint and spray any others nearby so they all get done (if the repair people are ever sent out).

Has my brain memory mixed up a story from you as being from Flewy?

I would accuse you of being Flewy's dad, but I have met him IRL and he isn't you. (Nice bloke btw).