Edinburgh potholes

[Eoin Rua]

Not a great start to the day - hit a massive pothole on the Dalry Rd (where they've just been doing roadworks), got a puncture, and as a result of trying to turn off the road with no air in the front tyre I went splat! Bit of a graze on the knee which is nothing, but my back wheel is buckled and the right handlebar is bent in.

Just wondering is there anywhere this pothole can be reported to, or will it just fall on deaf ears, and is it worth contacting insurance to see if they could cover the costs of replacing the bars? I realise this is probably not going to be that expensive but its not something I can afford just at the moment.

 

[ColinJ]

Sorry to hear about your accident!

Definitely report potholes - go to FillThatHole.org.

Councils have a legal get-out clause if holes haven't been reported to them so FTH puts pressure on them to fill the buggers, and if they aren't filled within a reasonable time after that and someone suffers injury or damage to property then the council in question is liable to pay damages.

 

[Eoin Rua]

Cheers Colin, appreciate it - had been on the FTH site before but never actually reported anything.

I'll see if I get any reply, and it may be worth contacting the council.

 

[ACS]

I reported a crater to Fife council via FillThatHole about 2 weeks ago and discovered during my commute this morning a repair had been carried out.

Now I know it works I will drip feed in others, and there are many, into the system.

 

[ColinJ]

Reporting definitely can make a difference. I reported a very dangerous pothole on a local high speed descent. To my knowledge, it had been there for well over a year** but it was filled within 2 days of me reporting it. The repair was done to a high standard, still perfect several years later.




** I kept putting off reporting that hole but then I saw a Cycling Weekly news article about a UK cyclist who was very seriously injured when his bike hit a huge pothole. The photograph of him in his hospital bed spurred me into action.

 

[HLaB]

Sorry to hear about your spill Eoin. Its been a while since I've been down Dalry Rd (October) it was in good condition then but it wouldn't be surprising that it has deteriorated fast especially with all the road works going on :-( It might be worth contacting SPOKES to find out if this has been a regular occurrence and they'll know what buttons to push to hopefully get a result. If the contractor can be blamed I think you might get a pay out faster.

I used fill that hole a couple of times; the first time the pothole was on one of the councils identified core paths (even though it was a road) and I said it was dangerous. It might just be a coincidence but that was repaired within the week. The other two times I've identified potholes its took a lot longer.

 

[ColinJ]

I used fill that hole a couple of times; the first time the pothole was on one of the councils identified core paths (even though it was a road) and I said it was dangerous. It might just be a coincidence but that was repaired within the week. The other two times I've identified potholes its took a lot longer.

When I reported the hole I mentioned above, I emailed the council department directly, and I made a point of mentioning that they should consider their potential liability if a cyclist was injured after they'd failed to act. I also happen to mention that I'd recorded the exact nature and grid reference of the pothole so there would be no argument as to which one it was, and a third party had a copy of the details and the email that they were reading.

An email was soon forwarded to me from the council and it included a full history of the correspondence I'd generated:


To: Council Dept.

From: ColinJ

Subject: Nasty dangerous pothole

... Fix it!




To: Jim

From: Fred

Subject: FWD: Nasty dangerous pothole


Jim ... take a look at this would you




To: Mike

From: Jim

Subject: FWD: Nasty dangerous pothole

Mike ... this needs looking at ASAP - this man says he will make sure we are sued if a cyclist or motorist is injured on the pothole he has reported




To: Dave

From: Mike

Subject: FWD: Nasty dangerous pothole

Dave ... please get out there and fill the damn thing!




To: Mike, Jim, Fred

CC: ColinJ

From: Dave

I'll fix it on my morning run!




To: ColinJ

CC: Mike, Jim, Fred

From: Dave

Hi Colin.

I've repaired the pothole you reported at Grid Ref :xxxxx. Here's a photo before the repair .... here's one after, Could you please conform that I filled the right hole?

Dave




Result! The thing that struck me was how much panic it generated in the department. It was also pretty obvious from the question "Did I fill the right hole?" that Dave was only filling certain holes, not every one he found!

 

[HLaB]

 

[fimm]

ColinJ, that's brilliant!
Eoin Rua, where exactly is this pothole? (Its just that my short commute takes me along the Dalry Road and I'd like to avoid it...)

I reported a section that is a whole series of potholes on the Gorgie Road to fillthathole a while back. Some tarmac has been put on it, but it is still horrible to ride - just where the road narrows, too, so you have to take the bumpy ride if there's a lot of traffic outside you.

 

[Ravenbait]

I hate that entire road, all the way out as far as Saughton. Once you get to the first big roundabout it improves, but I hate the rest of it. It has massive holes, dangerous ripples in the tarmac that have once or twice come close to throwing me under a bus, all sorts. I used to ride to work that way but I go Queensferry-Maybury now just to avoid that road and only use it when I need to go into town.

They need to rip the whole thing up and start again, really, but I can't see that happening.

Sam

 

[goo_mason]

Definitely report them - I reported a number of potholes on my route a couple of weeks back and they were filled in within a week.

Unfortunately, they did such a poor job that many of them are huge potholes again. If only they'd fill them & compact the filling down to make sure that it was filled enough not to immediately turn concave the minute a car drives over it. They just seem to drop some filling in and walk off, assuming the traffic will do the same job as road-rollers did once upon a time.

 

[Eoin Rua]

Eoin Rua, where exactly is this pothole? (Its just that my short commute takes me along the Dalry Road and I'd like to avoid it...)

It's right at the cemetery, just after the bridge (heading out of town). It is outside the cycle lane, but there's actually quite a bump in the cycle lane just after it: Map

My ride is Haymarket>Heriot-Watt so I'm through that way every day, haven't decided which side of the road is worse!

 

[fimm]

It's right at the cemetery, just after the bridge (heading out of town). It is outside the cycle lane, but there's actually quite a bump in the cycle lane just after it: Map

My ride is Haymarket>Heriot-Watt so I'm through that way every day, haven't decided which side of the road is worse!

I know the spot. Hadn't noticed additional potholes there, but I did the full commute yesterday and I'm not on the bike today. I'll keep an eye out, thank you for that.

Ravenbait, I live off the Gorgie Road so I don't have much choice about cycling that way!! If I'm heading out of town I'll take the Slateford Road or the cycle path, though.

 

[fimm]

Sussed out what I assume is the pothole in question - big flat hole with a nice manhole cover sticking up in the middle, great...
Fortunately my usual route on that bit of the road means I'm in the cycle lane at that point, and the pothole isn't!

 

[Eoin Rua]

Fortunately my usual route on that bit of the road means I'm in the cycle lane at that point, and the pothole isn't!

I was following traffic going at like 25 to avoid the rough part of the cycle lane - forgot/didn't see the hole was there...ah well, bike is in the shop, need to back wheel replaced and a few things straightened out