UK Road Quality

Skilid

Skilid

Skilid

Soldato
Joined
20 Sep 2006
Posts
2,828
Location
Hampshire
Sorry if this has been covered before.

- Why are UK roads so poor?
- Patched up instead of being made properly in the first place.
- High stone content so they break up easily.
- Noisy and bumpy.
- How long it takes to actually carry out the work.
- Massive disruptions.

I don't get why when on the motorway, you'll drive onto a really nice smooth bit of tarmac that is very quiet, and then it goes back to the nasty noisy stuff. Why can't they make all the roads in the UK smooth and black like this in the first place?

Other countries (Japan for instance) had one of their roads completely destroyed by the earthquake yet in 7 days it was as smooth and shiny as ever.

Is it just cost? They keep putting road tax up etc but the roads seem to stay as **** as ever?
 
The roads here are of very good quality in comparison to every other country i have visited, we have exceptionally good road planning and exceptionally good signage too. If you want to see bad roads visit virtually anywhere else, the worst developed country culprit which springs to mind is the USA where the roads really are something to moan about, all aspects of them, from surface to layout right through to signage.

British people love to moan, we have it so good here when it comes to motoring in general.
 
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I commute on mainly A roads around 22 miles, and it's like driving through a war zone, I'd estimate there are over 40 big pot holes and 10 large stretches of road where the surface has just disintegrated, it's really quite shocking.
 
beermonster said:
I commute on mainly A roads around 22 miles, and it's like driving through a war zone, I'd estimate there are over 40 big pot holes and 10 large stretches of road where the surface has just disintegrated, it's really quite shocking.
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Go anywhere else then, our country roads are just as good if not better than anything ive seen in other countries.
 
Duke said:
All down to money.
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Councils would much rather spend it on the Gay Lesbian Paraplegic Theatre Group than spend it on a decent qulity bitumen. But when they stick down a **** layer it never lasts before it all has to be done all over again.

funny that, spending more money now means less in the long run.
 
Jez said:
Go anywhere else then, our country roads are just as good if not better than anything ive seen in other countries.
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Never driven in France, Germany, Italy or Switzerland then?

Have you been smoking crack?
 
Their roads are tolled! Try driving the free smaller roads. Most of them are awful.

France especially as thats where i have been all over, their roads are absolutely in no way better than ours, bar the surface of some of the (very expensive) toll roads.
 
Jez said:
Go anywhere else then, our country roads are just as good if not better than anything ive seen in other countries.
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And that is a reason not to complain?

I don't care about other countries, I rarely drive in other countries and do not pay tax for usage of their roads. How bad they have it is of no concern to me.
 
Like Jez says, go elsewhere THEN moan!

I've seen shoddier toll roads in Spain than our main trunk routes over here.

We don't appreciate how lucky we actually are, yes some roads are bad, but its very much a minority.
 
The state of the roads in my area is one of my biggest pet hates.

Introducing 20mph zones along with speed bumps and bollards has taken priority over the rest of the road network for my local council. It's pretty sad to see a speed bump that has been repaired with fresh tarmac while there's a huge pot-hole right next to it :(
 
Morba said:
And that is a reason not to complain?

I don't care about other countries, I rarely drive in other countries and do not pay tax for usage of their roads. How bad they have it is of no concern to me.
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How do you propose that we measure the level at which roads should be considered to be "good".

We have to use an international comparison with other developed countries. I am yet to go anywhere with better than we have. I am sure places exist, but from what i can see we fare pretty well on an international level.

We also have relatively low car taxation in comparison to a lot of other countries. I wouldn't be driving 2 V8 mercedes cars so easily and cheaply in europe.

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
Like Jez says, go elsewhere THEN moan!

I've seen shoddier toll roads in Spain than our main trunk routes over here.

We don't appreciate how lucky we actually are, yes some roads are bad, but its very much a minority.
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There we are, the voice of a truck driver who probably covers more miles than the lot of us combined.
 
Anyone who thinks UK roads aren't bad should visit south Yorkshire and inparticular sheffield. Nowhere in England have I seen roads as bad, even when people visit from other areas they comment on them. They are awful :(
 
Partly due to cost, but also I reckon a lot of foreign workers have a better work ethic. The company who are contracted to repair the roads where I live are called Conway, and their slogan is, rather ironically, "great people, great work". They're a bunch of chavs, their work is crap, and they seem to spend most of their time driving their vans 2cm behind the rear bumper of my car and doing stupid speeds in residential roads :mad:
 
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