Road Surface in Britain a Disgrace
Discussion
Certainly in Hertfordshire roads have been so neglected for the last decade urban streets, country roads, B roads and even A roads are now a mass of potholes, cracks, splits, ruts bumps etc .
Council sacked their own road repair staff and now do not buy in contractor repair at all.
Council tax has been going up year after year by at least an average of 10 % per year (often much more ) and has doubled in the last 10 years.
Road users pay over £48 Billion every year in tax taken directly from motorists of that only £6 Billion is spent on building new roads and maintenance, much of that spent on dangerous humps , steel signs erecting steel posts in the middle of the carriageway which are hugely dangerous to travellers.
The rest of our money is paid away in social security and other things not in any way connected with transport.
Then there are tolls, and on top of that now to be "Road Pricing" at as much as a further £1.50 per mile you travel.
Governments are supposed to be employed by the people to manage the country in the best interests of all the people and provide services we pay for.
It is "Highway Robbery "....
In comparison the Poll tax riots were about something trivial.
Council sacked their own road repair staff and now do not buy in contractor repair at all.
Council tax has been going up year after year by at least an average of 10 % per year (often much more ) and has doubled in the last 10 years.
Road users pay over £48 Billion every year in tax taken directly from motorists of that only £6 Billion is spent on building new roads and maintenance, much of that spent on dangerous humps , steel signs erecting steel posts in the middle of the carriageway which are hugely dangerous to travellers.
The rest of our money is paid away in social security and other things not in any way connected with transport.
Then there are tolls, and on top of that now to be "Road Pricing" at as much as a further £1.50 per mile you travel.
Governments are supposed to be employed by the people to manage the country in the best interests of all the people and provide services we pay for.
It is "Highway Robbery "....
In comparison the Poll tax riots were about something trivial.
RTH said:
Road users pay over £48 Billion every year in tax taken directly from motorists of that only £6 Billion is spent on building new roads and maintenance, much of that spent on dangerous humps , steel signs erecting steel posts in the middle of the carriageway which are hugely dangerous to travellers.
I think you will find quite a large lump of that £6 billion is diverted to the railway network, so even less is actually spent on the roads.
Also, local councils have let their roads deteriorate to such an extent, that they are now paying out more in claims for damage done to vehicles than on actual upkeep of said roads.
state of the roads is terrible; drove down bond street the other day and couldnt believe it as I was bouncing all over the place, its uk's premier shopping street I felt I was visiting the third world (especially now that we those stupid rickshaws!). robinhood21 said:
Call me an old cynic
You're an old cynic (there you go.....said it)
You're the same as most my friend....exasperation is a word that springs to mind.
New to this forum, not new to being conned....had it for several years now
Edited by daveenty on Sunday 3rd December 23:10
I suspect in Kent they were better when the Romans left. That would be when most were last re-surfaced for sure!
Hacked off with taxes that don't even go towards the service for which we were told they were intended.My last service needed new top ball joints, the garage said to me, "You drive on the Cranbrook road...we can see" Claimed for a new wheel once from Kent C.C. as I had gone down pothole that destroyed it together with the Tyre.Was told that as it had been there only a week and they had not managed to spray it for the repair people...I could whistle!
I am just about ready for manning the barricades!!!!
Hacked off with taxes that don't even go towards the service for which we were told they were intended.My last service needed new top ball joints, the garage said to me, "You drive on the Cranbrook road...we can see" Claimed for a new wheel once from Kent C.C. as I had gone down pothole that destroyed it together with the Tyre.Was told that as it had been there only a week and they had not managed to spray it for the repair people...I could whistle!
I am just about ready for manning the barricades!!!!
dr jonboyg said:
It is pretty bad, but to be honest the UK has nothing on the US. The roads here are third world quality half the time.
Time for a bit of competitive pothole photograph posting ?
There are even big holes in the Herts section of the M25. The A120 which serves Stansted Airport is a mass of holes, cracks , ruts and loose gravel, I've seen smoother Rally special stages ! No wonder tyres go out of shape , rims get buckled, rubber suspension bushes torn out, screens cracked, and paint stone chipped.
No doubt accidents are caused and people injured and killed as a direct result of councils failure to fulfill their contract with us the road user to maintain the roads of Britain.
Starting from this point if we have a few hard frosts over the winter the roads will break up completely and returning to a sealed surface for all our roads will become impossible.
Strange isn't it in France you can drive 2000 miles including country roads and NEVER see a single hole !
What a shambolically run country we now live in !
Edited by RTH on Monday 4th December 15:59
Got to agree on roads being crap. Having driven about Edinburgh for many years I'd become quite adept at darting around the pot-holes. It was almost pointless getting the tracking done because you could guarentee that it would be out by the time you got home again.
Since then I've been doing a lot of distance all over the country and am getting to the point where it can be worrying joining A-roads off slip roads. Inside lanes can be so badly rutted these days that if you don't expect it you find your car suddenly dragged away from under you as you cross what is practically a guided-truck-way of ruts in the road. And they want heavier lorries?
Since then I've been doing a lot of distance all over the country and am getting to the point where it can be worrying joining A-roads off slip roads. Inside lanes can be so badly rutted these days that if you don't expect it you find your car suddenly dragged away from under you as you cross what is practically a guided-truck-way of ruts in the road. And they want heavier lorries?
I must agree with RTH, I have done a lot of miles through France and Spain and I cannot fault there roads at all. We went to Granada on a recent trip and the road we went on, from Motril, I think a goat would have had trouble standing on the edges of the mountain it was cut through. You could have rolled a coin down it and it wouldn't have fallen over.
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