That, and in Dubai they're concrete AFAIK, not tarmac.
The State of our roads !!
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Soldato
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Been driving down the A51 quite a bit the last few months and there are some absolute monsters along there, well over a foot wide and god knows how deep. The road isn't wide enough in places to dodge them if there is anything wider than a normal car coming the other way so I decided to take a chunk out of the verge with my bumper rather than either ruin my wheel or have a head on with a truck the other night.
This is so true also.
Our county council insisted on installing two speed humps in my local town. These are speed humps nobody asked for (even the busy body town council said they didn't want them!) but the county council insisted.
They installed two very shallow humps in the road which i can honestly say I could drive over at 50mph without an issue. This is forgetting that the town centre is normally at crawling speed anyway. The total cost of these two useless light humps in the road was £89000.
And in another local town they're doing works around the town that is taking *months* and when they're done the only thing they've changed is they've moved a couple of kerbs around and put in a couple of new traffic islands. It's mental. Everyone was expecting with how long it took that they would have completely redesigned the junctions they were working on but no. The changes are so slight no one can work out why it's taken months for them to do the work.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised - last summer it took them 4 nights to paint the lines on a small roundabout and 10m off each of the four small roads that came onto the roundabout. 4 nights. I remember seeing the workmen in the van asleep half the time.
These contractors must see councils as cash piñatas just waiting to be smashed open. God knows who approves these at the council though...
The weather has made it particularly bad this year but I've always wondered what incentive a council contractor has to make a repair long lasting. If they just patch it quickly then in a few months time they can expect more work to go patch it again, perhaps they have a fixed maintenance contract price regardless but in many industries now longevity is seen as a bad thing.
Also surprising that the materials we use on the roads hasn't really progressed, some sort of water repellent surface that assists draining and stops cracks expanding in freezing temperatures would be beneficial no. Guess it all comes down to money and short term thinking.
Also surprising that the materials we use on the roads hasn't really progressed, some sort of water repellent surface that assists draining and stops cracks expanding in freezing temperatures would be beneficial no. Guess it all comes down to money and short term thinking.
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It was explained to me (perhaps on this very forum), that councils will often choose a cheap and nasty surface over a more premium (but more expensive) surface, even if the more premium surface were to last twice as long.
They will always try to do everything on the cheap because of the stupid way the budgets work. Even though it usually ends up costing more in the long run. But oh well, that's next years budget.
There probably is a way to make a road near indestructible by now, but it will be super expensive so they won't do it. I read there is a type of plastic they can use, which if gets damaged you basically just melt it back in to shape again.
There probably is a way to make a road near indestructible by now, but it will be super expensive so they won't do it. I read there is a type of plastic they can use, which if gets damaged you basically just melt it back in to shape again.
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We should do what other countries do. I watch plenty of driving videos from countries such as Switzerland, Italy and France. These aren't toll roads either.
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What do they do?
Italy amazed me around Rome where road and lane marking are irrelevant and letting tree roots lift and ripple roads is normal. Not sure the videos are showing the reality... UK roads are good.
Italy amazed me around Rome where road and lane marking are irrelevant and letting tree roots lift and ripple roads is normal. Not sure the videos are showing the reality... UK roads are good.
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It depends on your expectations. As a supposedly affluent country, I don't expect my journey to work on A roads and motorways to be spent dodging large potholes.
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An affluent country with one of the lowest rates of taxation... https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/may/27/tax-britons-pay-europe-australia-us
I'd be much more annoyed if I lived in some of those other countries and had to endure the state of their roads!
n.b. I know that doesn't take council tax into account, which is where most road repairs comes from, but still.
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I know this isn't the politics forum but we need to raise taxes, especially on the wealthy and large corporations. Not keep cutting taxes in a race to the bottom.
Alternatively, have more toll roads. Always found it odd for such a neoliberal country, we didn't privatise the roads!
What's the condition of the M6 Toll like?
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UK roads aren't good, they're passable in places, rubbish in others.
You'd never find a major A-road in Europe in such poor condition.
Soldato
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Great, but that's because nobody uses it - not because it's a toll road.
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No I know that, was just curious as all.
I think we should have more toll roads personally.
Soldato
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If you read my earlier post in this thread, you'll see that I personally would gladly pay more tax if I had faith that the money would be spent wisely. That also applies to fixing all the other problems we have as a nation.
Pristine, the roads running alongside it though are a complete mess.
HGVs destroy our roads (rare to see a single one on the toll) but we have no real alternative to getting freight around the country.
Cheshire West tried a twitter PR offensive but shot themselves in the foot
https://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/...ws/chester-council-finds-itself-hole-14385504
https://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/...ws/chester-council-finds-itself-hole-14385504
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-43407167
Only 10%? Feels on the low side to me, based on the state of the roads around here.
Only 10%? Feels on the low side to me, based on the state of the roads around here.
Yea and it shows why the toll road was a bad idea. All it's done is cause people to avoid it and put more stress on surrounding roads, which then need repair sooner.
Anyway, they just finished re-laying part of another road near me. Using the same crappy tarmac they did on the other road a couple of years ago. Seems like they didn't even bother to roll this one flat either. Probably because they expect it to fall apart and have to be redone soon enough...
This, going up and down the M1 to Derby from London and back a lot recently and you can literally see the road disintegrate in front of you when HGVs pummel already pretty large pot holes, they just explode in a cloud of dust and debris.