what the hell is going on with our roads.

[jpaul]

hadn't heard this labour guff before

Britain’s roads ‘have more potholes than craters on the moon’

Labour claims lack of maintenance means UK highways now resemble the lunar surface

www.telegraph.co.uk

Britain’s roads could have more than 100 times as many potholes as there are craters on the moon, according to Labour.

The UK had more than a million potholes last year, the party said, comparing the figure with astronomers’ estimates that there are more than 9,000 craters on the Moon.

But whereas craters are generally caused by the explosion or impact of a meteorite, potholes are largely the result of a mix of traffic, weather and poor road maintenance.

The comparison comes after a nationwide survey earlier this year found that 107,000 miles of local roads are “fast reaching the end of their lives” as a result of potholes.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, UK roads spending in 2019 was just over half (51 per cent) what it was in 2006.

Angela Rayner, the shadow local government secretary, said: “Rishi Sunak vowed to rid Britain of potholes, but he’s living on another planet.

as they correctly exposed on bbc broadcast this am there are trillions, of, regular, pot-holes sizes,
more surprisingly 1million divets that are > 1Km in diameter

 

[Shadowness]

To be honest our weather lately hasn't helped. So many roads that are subsiding, especially those on the edges or bottoms of hills where they must have a constant run off on an under ground.

But yes, they are getting worse and worse.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

as they correctly exposed on bbc broadcast this am there are trillions, of, regular, pot-holes sizes,
more surprisingly 1million divets that are > 1Km in diameter

Did you proof read what you wrote? A divet (which is used for grass typically) greater than 1000 metres on UK the roads!?!

 

[Nasher]

It's funny going abroad to countries which get much colder in winter and also generally hotter in mid summer than the UK. But the roads are still in much better condition.

Pretty sure the situation with the UK is they are just using cheap materials and manpower. Even when they fit drains etc they don't usually do it properly, so they end up sinking.

 

[tom_e]

Did you proof read what you wrote? A divet (which is used for grass typically) greater than 1000 metres on UK the roads!?!

I'm assuming he means on the moon

 

[Jonnycoupe]

I did think that after.

Suppose he’s not on this planet but not quite another one. I mean what relevance does that reference even have

 

[Drollic]

I don't know what the exact requirements are, but in my area, there's potential for a UK WRC stage.

 

[adam cool dude]

It's funny going abroad to countries which get much colder in winter and also generally hotter in mid summer than the UK. But the roads are still in much better condition.

Pretty sure the situation with the UK is they are just using cheap materials and manpower. Even when they fit drains etc they don't usually do it properly, so they end up sinking.

Their roads get used a fraction of what ours do though. It is the constant hammering they get that does the damage not really the weather. You drive along the inside lane of the A14 towards Felixstowe and M11 where it comes off the A14 and it is like riding on train tracks because they are major arterial routes for HGV's and get hammered 24/7.

Our population density is by far the worst out of the high populated countries in Europe too.

It also doesn't help that our "highway maintenance" is totally inept either. I went for a bike ride through a closed road that they were working on tonight and when I came back an hour later they had done nothing but drink tea and smoke fags.

 

[Nasher]

Their roads get used a fraction of what ours do though. It is the constant hammering they get that does the damage not really the weather. You drive along the inside lane of the A14 towards Felixstowe and M11 where it comes off the A14 and it is like riding on train tracks because they are major arterial routes for HGV's and get hammered 24/7.

Our population density is by far the worst out of the high populated countries in Europe too.

It also doesn't help that our "highway maintenance" is totally inept either. I went for a bike ride through a closed road that they were working on tonight and when I came back an hour later they had done nothing but drink tea and smoke fags.

Not sure about that. The traffic is constant and 24/7 on the main roads/highways. Same as the UK. Much bigger lorries too.

 

[theone8181]

Their roads get used a fraction of what ours do though. It is the constant hammering they get that does the damage not really the weather. You drive along the inside lane of the A14 towards Felixstowe and M11 where it comes off the A14 and it is like riding on train tracks because they are major arterial routes for HGV's and get hammered 24/7.

Our population density is by far the worst out of the high populated countries in Europe too.

It also doesn't help that our "highway maintenance" is totally inept either. I went for a bike ride through a closed road that they were working on tonight and when I came back an hour later they had done nothing but drink tea and smoke fags.

TBF that was a busy hour for them . I do see a bit difference between areas in terms of potholes. East riding seems pretty good, but when I venture into hull most of the roads seem in poor condition. Roadworks do always seem to take longer than planned wherever it is. Wonder if any have ever actually finished early.

 

[tom_e]

I visit my parents every now and again to remind me that my local roads are actually pretty good, their inner town roads have basically crumbled to nothing

 

[Hades]

It's not just pot holes. Has anyone else noticed that road markings aren't being repainted? So some roads have very faint markings.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Signs are my biggest bugbear, loads you literally cant see unless last minute cos of vegetation and then theres the green ones covered in algae.

 

[Nasher]

It's not just pot holes. Has anyone else noticed that road markings aren't being repainted? So some roads have very faint markings.

Yep including double yellow lines, disabled bays, etc. Which means parking rules cannot be enforced.

 

[Diddums]

It's not just pot holes. Has anyone else noticed that road markings aren't being repainted? So some roads have very faint markings.

You wanna see our road. They redid it a couple of weeks ago, better surface than a basketball court. I was chatting to the guys doing the work and they said they took 170mm off the top and redid it, they haven't even done motorways that deep. The road wasn't even that bad, there are dozens of other roads local to us which I'd have prioritized, but nope, let's resurface one of the better ones. I can now safely say I live on one of the UK's best roads. Must have an MP living local somewhere who now has a brown envelope in his recycling bin.

Bloody noisy though, imagine opening your front door at 3am to this:

 

[Mel_P]

Money doesn't grow on trees. Local Authorities need money to repair roads. Central government funding keeps going down as they want to "reduce taxes". In reality they want to transfer tax raising to Local Authorities so that they get the blame!

 

[BUDFORCE]

A bit of the road through one of the villages on mt way to drop my kid off at school has subsided considerably.

There have been several accidents caused, one of which also shut down the local power grid when whatever it was flipped off into an overhead power line.

Dangerous emergency you'd think? Hazard to public health?

They left it like that for heading towards a year, but don't worry they've "fixed it" but putting temporary, now seemingly permanent traffic lights around it.

 

[Rilot]

Wokingham have "resurfaced" 2 of the roads I use to go to work. This has involved putting tar on top of the old surface and then dumping gravel on top. They haven't levelled it or filled the deep bumps. So, the road is still as bumpy and uneven as it was before, it's just rougher now.

 

[tom_e]

Wokingham have "resurfaced" 2 of the roads I use to go to work. This has involved putting tar on top of the old surface and then dumping gravel on top. They haven't levelled it or filled the deep bumps. So, the road is still as bumpy and uneven as it was before, it's just rougher now.

I do love a good surface dressing especially when I'm on two wheels, really adds to the "Am I going to make it home alive today" feeling

 

[Hades]

I do love a good surface dressing especially when I'm on two wheels, really adds to the "Am I going to make it home alive today" feeling

Whenever I report a deep pothole I always add a comment "Very dangerous for cyclists and motorcycles. Serious risk of injury". I've no idea if it gets them to act faster but I'm hoping the risk of the council having to disclose that report at a death inquest may shake them into at least checking it out. Oh how naive I am.