Discussion
I think a fair bit of this has been down to an appalling and long winter.
It seems like they don’t want to ‘properly’ fix them until the frosts are over.
Now you may well ask, why in 2023 haven’t developed better methods and I don’t have an answer to that.
But it’s probably down to £££ like everything else seems to be.
It seems like they don’t want to ‘properly’ fix them until the frosts are over.
Now you may well ask, why in 2023 haven’t developed better methods and I don’t have an answer to that.
But it’s probably down to £££ like everything else seems to be.
Loads in Surrey that you have to stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear before you can drive around them on the other side of the road. Some are on the corner of blind bends, not good at all.
Tried reporting them, but they are already listed as 'urgent safety hazards that are to be repaired within 24 hours' ... still waiting a week later though. Roads have been in an awful state for months.
Nearly got wiped out by another pothole recently, wondered why the couple standing by the side of the road were taking a picture - must have just had their tyre/wheel destroyed by it.
No point contacting the MP - have tried in the past several times for different things and never received a decent reply. Looking forward to the next election when I can vote for someone else.
Tried reporting them, but they are already listed as 'urgent safety hazards that are to be repaired within 24 hours' ... still waiting a week later though. Roads have been in an awful state for months.
Nearly got wiped out by another pothole recently, wondered why the couple standing by the side of the road were taking a picture - must have just had their tyre/wheel destroyed by it.
No point contacting the MP - have tried in the past several times for different things and never received a decent reply. Looking forward to the next election when I can vote for someone else.
David87 said:
The roads here in this part of Essex are the worst I've ever seen them. There's some bloody massive holes on busy roads that have simply been left for weeks and months with no s
ts given. Someone needs firing.
Yep, Essex here as well and roads are atrocious. Doesn’t seem to matter what bit of Essex but potholes are the worst I’ve ever seen and bar the odd one poorly filled only to fail again nothing substantial seems to be done.ts given. Someone needs firing.Horrible if you drive something with even a remotely low profile tyre.
We wrote off 2 runflat tyres in the dark on the M1 recently. Cost nealy £500 to replace, huge bulging cuts in the sidewalls.. 2 days earlier my son wrote off a runflat on the M6 toll road, that was nearly £200 to replace.
It's not a lifechanging cost for us fortunately, but I had to earn nearly £1,000 gross ( less PAYE, Nat Insurance etc) to find the cost of the tyres. And the £480 price of the two tyres included nearly £100.00 VAT, so thats getting on for £600 in total for the HMRC so I can fix my car due to the Government neglecting to maintain the roads...
It's ridiculous.
It's not a lifechanging cost for us fortunately, but I had to earn nearly £1,000 gross ( less PAYE, Nat Insurance etc) to find the cost of the tyres. And the £480 price of the two tyres included nearly £100.00 VAT, so thats getting on for £600 in total for the HMRC so I can fix my car due to the Government neglecting to maintain the roads...
It's ridiculous.
Edited by andygo on Thursday 20th April 17:39
Edited by andygo on Thursday 20th April 17:41
Chamon_Lee said:
OP I really feel your pain, I complained year after year after year, sent letters to local MP too. The utter disgrace of our roads is just shameful.
It did make some what of a difference and many complained and repairs started to get done but I agree with the above poster I don't think for one second this country doesn't generate enough taxes its the poor value for money they get for it that boils my piss. They have no clue how to use the money correctly.
I competely agree on the safety front too - I did not realize until a few years ago how much my eyes have started to train themselves to look down AT the road rather than down the road as far as you can see. Its shocking and ruins the pleasure of driving
Fiend of my wife, her husband has the contract to repair all the potholes in the county they live in. It did make some what of a difference and many complained and repairs started to get done but I agree with the above poster I don't think for one second this country doesn't generate enough taxes its the poor value for money they get for it that boils my piss. They have no clue how to use the money correctly.
I competely agree on the safety front too - I did not realize until a few years ago how much my eyes have started to train themselves to look down AT the road rather than down the road as far as you can see. Its shocking and ruins the pleasure of driving
Says a lot when he flys to work in his helicopter and they live in a multi million pound house.
MB140 said:
Chamon_Lee said:
OP I really feel your pain, I complained year after year after year, sent letters to local MP too. The utter disgrace of our roads is just shameful.
It did make some what of a difference and many complained and repairs started to get done but I agree with the above poster I don't think for one second this country doesn't generate enough taxes its the poor value for money they get for it that boils my piss. They have no clue how to use the money correctly.
I competely agree on the safety front too - I did not realize until a few years ago how much my eyes have started to train themselves to look down AT the road rather than down the road as far as you can see. Its shocking and ruins the pleasure of driving
Fiend of my wife, her husband has the contract to repair all the potholes in the county they live in. It did make some what of a difference and many complained and repairs started to get done but I agree with the above poster I don't think for one second this country doesn't generate enough taxes its the poor value for money they get for it that boils my piss. They have no clue how to use the money correctly.
I competely agree on the safety front too - I did not realize until a few years ago how much my eyes have started to train themselves to look down AT the road rather than down the road as far as you can see. Its shocking and ruins the pleasure of driving
Says a lot when he flys to work in his helicopter and they live in a multi million pound house.
They're terrible where I live in Stansted Essex. The bridleways and byways are in better condition than the roads. They don't seem to have done any road maintenance whatsoever for months. All of these have been steadily growing since before Christmas. Here's a few of the best ones:
Funnily enough the Liberal Democrats came knocking on my door looking for votes a few days ago. There must be some sort of election on? Had I have known that Politicians were coming around, I would have had my bucket of water from an upstairs window ready
He was asking if we had any concerns so I mentioned the shocking state of the roads, he said something about it all being central governments fault as they've cut spending by 25%, probably some truth in that when you consider how much money they poured down the drain on covid and lining their business buddies back pockets.
He also said that the defects should be reported which I have done on the Uttlesford roads website, trouble is for any one defect, when you look on the map, you find that it looks like it's been hit with shotgun pellets as so many people have reported the problem, but it never gets fixed properly. Usual response is an assessor will look at the issue in an unspecified timeframe, and a decision will be made on a repair also in an unspecified timeframe... What usually happens is after a few days somebody turns up and sticks a cone in the hole, I think that's what they call a repair now days.
The roads look better in Cuba than they do here....
Funnily enough the Liberal Democrats came knocking on my door looking for votes a few days ago. There must be some sort of election on? Had I have known that Politicians were coming around, I would have had my bucket of water from an upstairs window ready
He was asking if we had any concerns so I mentioned the shocking state of the roads, he said something about it all being central governments fault as they've cut spending by 25%, probably some truth in that when you consider how much money they poured down the drain on covid and lining their business buddies back pockets.
He also said that the defects should be reported which I have done on the Uttlesford roads website, trouble is for any one defect, when you look on the map, you find that it looks like it's been hit with shotgun pellets as so many people have reported the problem, but it never gets fixed properly. Usual response is an assessor will look at the issue in an unspecified timeframe, and a decision will be made on a repair also in an unspecified timeframe... What usually happens is after a few days somebody turns up and sticks a cone in the hole, I think that's what they call a repair now days.
The roads look better in Cuba than they do here....
My grumpy old man impression is that Bristol has lost the battle against potholes and doesn't seem to have any intention of tackling them.
Reported several in recent weeks which have either been ignored or closed off as "not needing attention at this time". Saw a recent fix on one street nearby that was two inches below the rest of the road - if you aren't going to do the job well, why bother in the first place? I'm sure these are 3rd party contractors of course, charging the council way over the odds, while the council are blissfully unaware that they are getting ripped off (as with all public sector expenditure).
I suppose their criteria for actually fixing the roads is now based on whether or not a motorcyclist ends up grinding along the tarmac. Because the way my car gets thrown about on the roads currently makes you wonder why they even bother with tarmac in the first place.
Reported several in recent weeks which have either been ignored or closed off as "not needing attention at this time". Saw a recent fix on one street nearby that was two inches below the rest of the road - if you aren't going to do the job well, why bother in the first place? I'm sure these are 3rd party contractors of course, charging the council way over the odds, while the council are blissfully unaware that they are getting ripped off (as with all public sector expenditure).
I suppose their criteria for actually fixing the roads is now based on whether or not a motorcyclist ends up grinding along the tarmac. Because the way my car gets thrown about on the roads currently makes you wonder why they even bother with tarmac in the first place.
Bristol is appalling. There is a road in Hanham where you have to straddle the road otherwise your right tyres just bounce in and out of the holes.
St Phillips Causeway is always having emergency repairs. Only for the next rain to wash out the emergency repair and the pot hole returns.
The m32 floods and also has emergency repairs.
My local roads near Failand have several huge holes, roads that are used by leisure cyclists and would be deadly. Roads to Clevedon and Portishead also 50mph but riddled with big holes.
I drive the same routes and will position my car to avoid them but I often look in the rear view mirror to see what the car behind does and often they just crash through them.
The roads mentioned are in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire so it seems to be a wider problem than just once specific council down here.
Only this week we had a collapsed manhole cover near Templemeads, fixed apparently. Drove down there tonight, it’s now a raised man hole cover where they are just in the process of digging a pit around it. No warning signs and no doubt will take 2 months of 1 hour a day to fix it. . No one cares, but Bristol is anti car so I suspect Mental Mayor Marv is doing his best to get us out of our cars
St Phillips Causeway is always having emergency repairs. Only for the next rain to wash out the emergency repair and the pot hole returns.
The m32 floods and also has emergency repairs.
My local roads near Failand have several huge holes, roads that are used by leisure cyclists and would be deadly. Roads to Clevedon and Portishead also 50mph but riddled with big holes.
I drive the same routes and will position my car to avoid them but I often look in the rear view mirror to see what the car behind does and often they just crash through them.
The roads mentioned are in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire so it seems to be a wider problem than just once specific council down here.
Only this week we had a collapsed manhole cover near Templemeads, fixed apparently. Drove down there tonight, it’s now a raised man hole cover where they are just in the process of digging a pit around it. No warning signs and no doubt will take 2 months of 1 hour a day to fix it. . No one cares, but Bristol is anti car so I suspect Mental Mayor Marv is doing his best to get us out of our cars
Edited by oldaudi on Thursday 20th April 19:49
GSE said:
They're terrible where I live in Stansted Essex. The bridleways and byways are in better condition than the roads. They don't seem to have done any road maintenance whatsoever for months. All of these have been steadily growing since before Christmas. Here's a few of the best ones:
Funnily enough the Liberal Democrats came knocking on my door looking for votes a few days ago. There must be some sort of election on? Had I have known that Politicians were coming around, I would have had my bucket of water from an upstairs window ready
He was asking if we had any concerns so I mentioned the shocking state of the roads, he said something about it all being central governments fault as they've cut spending by 25%, probably some truth in that when you consider how much money they poured down the drain on covid and lining their business buddies back pockets.
He also said that the defects should be reported which I have done on the Uttlesford roads website, trouble is for any one defect, when you look on the map, you find that it looks like it's been hit with shotgun pellets as so many people have reported the problem, but it never gets fixed properly. Usual response is an assessor will look at the issue in an unspecified timeframe, and a decision will be made on a repair also in an unspecified timeframe... What usually happens is after a few days somebody turns up and sticks a cone in the hole, I think that's what they call a repair now days.
The roads look better in Cuba than they do here....
Here in Kent and Sussex we laugh in the face of your Essex potholes.Funnily enough the Liberal Democrats came knocking on my door looking for votes a few days ago. There must be some sort of election on? Had I have known that Politicians were coming around, I would have had my bucket of water from an upstairs window ready
He was asking if we had any concerns so I mentioned the shocking state of the roads, he said something about it all being central governments fault as they've cut spending by 25%, probably some truth in that when you consider how much money they poured down the drain on covid and lining their business buddies back pockets.
He also said that the defects should be reported which I have done on the Uttlesford roads website, trouble is for any one defect, when you look on the map, you find that it looks like it's been hit with shotgun pellets as so many people have reported the problem, but it never gets fixed properly. Usual response is an assessor will look at the issue in an unspecified timeframe, and a decision will be made on a repair also in an unspecified timeframe... What usually happens is after a few days somebody turns up and sticks a cone in the hole, I think that's what they call a repair now days.
The roads look better in Cuba than they do here....
Quite regularly you will find 3-5 cars with flat tyres and broken suspension waiting for recovery next to a pothole and sometimes an emergency Council team closing the stable door.
The roads round my way are as bad as I’ve ever seen.
There’s a section of road going into Harold Hill (not sure of the name but by old McDonald farm).
The road is ok and seems as though some maintenance has been done as you cross over the M25 and into what I assume is TFL territory then it is bloody terrible. You have to zigzag along!
I do wonder if it’s another attempt to reduce traffic? Make the roads so bad you don’t bother driving maybe?
There’s a section of road going into Harold Hill (not sure of the name but by old McDonald farm).
The road is ok and seems as though some maintenance has been done as you cross over the M25 and into what I assume is TFL territory then it is bloody terrible. You have to zigzag along!
I do wonder if it’s another attempt to reduce traffic? Make the roads so bad you don’t bother driving maybe?
I'm in South Suffolk. Right on the Essex border. The roads are disintegrating more than ever (I've lived here thirty years). The repairs fail very quickly. I think they use "eco" repair compounds that don't really work. More repair work for the workers, fatuous eco awards for the council. It would of course be denied, but I am quite sure. But really what other explanation could there be? Winters have been pretty mild since 2012-13 the last cold one.
My home office overlooks a main road. A patch of potholes first appeared on that road about 3 years ago or so.
Every 3-4 months the council come and fill them in. Then in a few weeks it's back to exactly as it was before. They've been at least 8 or 9 times so far.
Twice they've come and only filled in half the holes and left half!!!!!
I just wish they'd come and do it properly. I'm sure it would have been cheaper than the multiple short-term bodge jobs they've done so far.
Every 3-4 months the council come and fill them in. Then in a few weeks it's back to exactly as it was before. They've been at least 8 or 9 times so far.
Twice they've come and only filled in half the holes and left half!!!!!
I just wish they'd come and do it properly. I'm sure it would have been cheaper than the multiple short-term bodge jobs they've done so far.
Here's one in Cambridge (where they 'promote' cycling!) and my report was immediately closed (email was a 'no reply' address) because it was already scheduled for repair within 12 weeks. Just after I took the photo I saw a car in the nearby carpark with a split tyre, and the local social media had stories of 3 others. The Council Highways Execs should be paying for the motorists repair out of their salaries - maybe then they'd do something?
BTW I spoke with the local Police, and within a day this hole had been (very badly) filled.
BTW I spoke with the local Police, and within a day this hole had been (very badly) filled.
I live in a a suburb of NW London, there is not a huge amount of traffic but quite a lot of building work nearby (people turning 8 bed houses into 12 bed houses, or 12 bed houses into 16 bed houses - if you are from North London you can guess which road I am taking about!)
We are on a cheap street I hasten to add!
Some of the potholes are larger than Olympus Mons on Mars, I think because of all the lorries. The council fill the craters with something softer than Weetabix soaked in milk and after a few weeks of rain they are there again!
We are on a cheap street I hasten to add!
Some of the potholes are larger than Olympus Mons on Mars, I think because of all the lorries. The council fill the craters with something softer than Weetabix soaked in milk and after a few weeks of rain they are there again!
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