Are the roads beyond repair in your area.

[totallyfixed]

We are lucky, potholes are a rarity here, however when we go elsewhere with the bikes it can be a bit of a shock. Chipping roads is very much a short term solution and often to a problem that did not exist in the first place. We have observed roads that have been resurfaced with a lovely smooth thick layer of tarmacadam, or more properly bitumen, only for it to be chipped weeks later. I believe this is to stop idiot car drivers from skidding off the road, well now they can go even faster without ripping up another hedgerow. Pathetic.

 

[Venod]

We had the roads discussion in the cafe the other day, one guy had just come back of Holiday (Spain I think) and he was saying you realise how bad our roads are when you have had a couple of weeks of smooth tarmac, in West Yorkshire I doubt if they will ever mend all the pot holes/damaged surfaces, its going to take a lot of cash to put right.

 

[snorri]

I welcomed the cutbacks on spending on roads when it was first announced as my local roads department appeared to be spending as if there was no tomorrow. However, the funding cutback now means they are unable to maintain existing infrastructure which can never be a sensible plan for the longer term.
We had a bridge collapse on a local road due to gully clearing being neglected and the rain water eroding the bridge structure.

 

[rualexander]

Pretty terrible in Glasgow and surrounding area.

 

[Drago]

I've given up reporting the craters around our village as they're just not getting fixed.

It's a good reason as any to stick to my monster truck.

 

[Globalti]

It's a sad state of affairs but I'm not convinced the money exists to maintain the roads to the level we'd like.

Understatement of the week!

Maintenance, including drain and gulley cleaning, is so bad in Lancashire that in rain the M66 has several places where pools of standing water collect on the carriageway. Regulars know where they are and can slow or swerve around the pools but one day somebody is going to hit one at speed and come unstuck.

Country roads are as bad as anywhere else and worst on north-facing hills and areas that are sheltered under trees and don't get dried by sunlight and breezes.

 

[MikeW-71]

In general, not too bad up here, with some utterly horrendous exceptions. Some of the worst have already been resurfaced.

 

[Drago]

The money exists, but by the time it's been given away in foreign aid it can't then be spent a second time over.

I know it's a different discussion, but this is an example of why we shouldn't be giving aid to countries that can afford space programmes and nuclear weapons. The UK should be a utopia with nothing wanting for funding before we give it away to people who already mis-spend their own on frivolous projects.

 

[screenman]

If we put the retirement age up to 110 there would be enough to pay for the roads. 125 for civil servants. because according to a topic in another section they do not work as hard. Oh and 59 for the self employed.

 

[Donger]

Some of the main roads in and around Stroud simply defy description. My saddle nearly worked its way loose on last weekend's club ride.

By complete contrast, anyone ever been to Luxembourg? Even the quietest, most rural roads always seem to be immaculately clean and as smooth as a Formula 1 racetrack. Ever wondered where our EU contributions go?

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I've been thinking this for the last week or so cycling Oldham - Piccadilly Station , trying different routes to find one that doesn't jar my fillings loose if I'm not slightly more alert for potholes than a fighter pilot in a dogfight.

 

[Drago]

I'll tell you what grinds my gears, those cheap road repairs where the sprinkle coco pops upon a thin bed of Marmite. Wrong on so many levels...

It's a nasty abrasive surface for a cyclist to fall off onto.

When it New its a fairly unstable surface for 2 wheeled road users.

When it's worn you're left with slick patches of glass smooth Marmite which are deadly slippery, and these are invariably on corners or braking zones where the surface takes the biggest hammering.

The act of spreading rice crispies over the surface simply introduces a new abrasive medium which serves only to accelerate the wear on the road structure underneath.

No other supposedly civilised country wastes money on bodgery like this. When will local and national government finally twig that something costs what it costs, and cutting back on finances beyond a certain tipping point makes the end product worse, not "leaner and more streamlined"?

 

[screenman]

Loose chipping help my living, part of my business is windscreen repair the training of and selling the tools.

 

[Sara_H]

The roads in Shrffield are famously poor, though the local authority have now contracted a company to start a programme of resurfacing.
One of the roads on my route is terrible, it's just a mess of pot holes. I have to do a right turn, but I dare not let go of the handlebars to signal. As its downhill and I'm freewheeling at this point I generally signal with my leg and hope the drivers get the gist!

 

[Fnaar]

[QUOTE 3552061, member: 9609"]This side of the Border is not too bad, but North Northumberland (where this afternoons bike ride is) is dreadful - there are some places it is though you're entering some third world country. If you are criss crossing the Border you don't need a map to know which country you're in, just look at the road surface - And I think they have given up gritting the roads in the winter over there too.[/QUOTE]
It was Feb last year when the County Council rashly promised to 'eliminate potholes by June'. Strangely enough, they didn't manage it http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/no...land-county-council-pledges-eliminate-6729066

Though they claim to have done so...
http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=6270&article=3633

Perhaps they look at the roads differently to me, and 'pothole' has a different definition. If they fancy coming out with me, I can show them more potholes than craters on the moon, and surfaces rougher than a badger's arse after a night on the vindaloo and cider.