Mud on road

[NorthernDave]

I know a certain amount of mud on the road is inevitable at this time of year, but it seems to be reaching epic proportions around here.
It's so bad that I've stopped using a couple of lanes as they're in danger in becoming unrideable, such is the volume of mud being dragged out of fields and deposited on the road.
I don't want to come across as some townie who knows nothing of the ways of the countryside, and i appreciate that they cant do much about run off from fields, but don't farmers (and contractors for that matter), have some responsibility to clean the mess they leave behind them from a safety point of view?

 

[jefmcg]

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/148

If, without lawful authority or excuse—

(a)a person deposits on a made-up carriageway any dung, compost or other material for dressing land, or any rubbish, or

(b)a person deposits on any highway that consists of or comprises a made-up carriageway any dung, compost or other material for dressing land, or any rubbish, within 15 feet from the centre of that carriageway, or

(c)a person deposits any thing whatsoever on a highway to the interruption of any user of the highway, or

(d)a hawker or other itinerant trader pitches a booth, stall or stand, or encamps, on a highway.

he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding [F1level 3 on the standard scale].

 

[andytheflyer]

There are a few lanes where I live that are effectively impassable most of the year on a bike - and one is Cycle Route 81!

The farmers don't give a stuff (well, some of them don't), Dibble doesn't or won't, or more likely can't.

That's why I put my Defy away for the winter and ride my recumbent.

 

[Andrew_P]

I have 3 miles of it at the moment. A recycling centre has opened on the rural part of commute it is recycling aggregate separating out the mud. The tippers are dropping loads of stuff as the leave two punctures last week and covered in mud. Now to add insult to injury the farmer is moving the cow dung from his shed to all the fields along the road and leaving half of it on the road. The cars squash it when it is dry and then when wet is a road of shoot. All the pair of them have done is put up a sign "Caution Mud On The Road" I have reported it to Surrey County Council and just got a reply that they cannot see a problem and they have put up warning signs.. wtf It is a public highway if it was my business doing this they would be all over me like a rash.

I have even stopped putting my bottle on the bike as it covered in it when wet. Last week a car was upside down in the ditch, clearly speed but the state of the road would have played a part. It REALLY is irritating me!! The email is a no reply address and no name of the person and the phone is impossible to get through on.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

One of the roads I use on my morning commute is currently heavily mudded up, it's also on a Sustrans route, luckily it is a fairly quiet road so I can normally ride right in the middle of it on the only part that is mud free.

 

[Bianchi boy]

I have 3 miles of it at the moment. A recycling centre has opened on the rural part of commute it is recycling aggregate separating out the mud. The tippers are dropping loads of stuff as the leave two punctures last week and covered in mud. Now to add insult to injury the farmer is moving the cow dung from his shed to all the fields along the road and leaving half of it on the road. The cars squash it when it is dry and then when wet is a road of shoot. All the pair of them have done is put up a sign "Caution Mud On The Road" I have reported it to Surrey County Council and just got a reply that they cannot see a problem and they have put up warning signs.. wtf It is a public highway if it was my business doing this they would be all over me like a rash.

I have even stopped putting my bottle on the bike as it covered in it when wet. Last week a car was upside down in the ditch, clearly speed but the state of the road would have played a part. It REALLY is irritating me!! The email is a no reply address and no name of the person and the phone is impossible to get through on.

welcome to my world, phone the concil and remind them of their obligation to keep the road clear, and put a claim in for damage to your vehicle \ cycle

 

[mrbikerboy73]

A frustrating problem I know but I'm not sure it's one that can be sorted easily, if at all. I recently rode through a village where some houses were being built. Admittedly there were warning signs about mud on the road but it must have been a inch thick at the site entrance and because it was wet, it was like riding on ice. How I didn't come off I shall never know...

 

[jefmcg]

It can be fixed, if there is a will, money and enforcement. There is a huge building site I pass and they have a permanent guy standing on the road outside while they are working with a high pressure hose. He's hosing the mud off the road, and presumably off the lorries as they leave. There is only a thin film of muddy water on the road, and no problem to cars or cycles.

 

[Hacienda71]

I rode down a local lane I use a lot yesterday and for about half a mile the road as covered in mud, right from one field gate to another. I was on my better bike which ended the ride plastered in the stuff. Then on the way home another one of my regular roads was covered in hedge detritus where on of those tractor hedge cutting attachments had been used. All very annoying.

 

[Drago]

They don't just have a responsibility to clean it up - they have responsibility not to put it there in the first, cos it's an offence to place anything on or over a highway which could endanger a user of that highway. There's no chuffing excise for it, and farmers I see doing it get grassed to the County Council so they get the bill for cleaning it up.

 

[ColinJ]

They don't just have a responsibility to clean it up - they have responsibility not to put it there in the first, cos it's an offence to place anything on or over a highway which could endanger a user of that highway. There's no chuffing excise for it, and farmers I see doing it get grassed to the County Council so they get the bill for cleaning it up.

We came across this on a recent forum ride ...

We had plenty of time to chat to the farmer on the quad bike while we waited for the cows to get to the farm. He said that the fields that the cows spend their days in are a mile down that road from the farm. They go to the fields in the morning, spend all day there, and then come back in the evening to be milked and to shelter overnight.

I can't see it being practical for the farmer to clean a mile of country lane twice a day, 365 days a year. So, either he doesn't clean it or he has to get rid of the cows. I am no fan of cow pat-covered roads but I wouldn't really want to put farmers out of business because they do not own land in the right place.

 

[Accy cyclist]

There were some big pieces of turf left on the side of the A59 yesterday. They looked like they'd been cut up by a plough. Whoever dumped them there is an inconsiderate ~@#t!!

 

[Supersuperleeds]

All this wet weather has cleaned the road I ride on

The flip side is that all this wet weather means there is more mud on my bike than on the roads.

 

[NorthernDave]

We came across this on a recent forum ride ...

We had plenty of time to chat to the farmer on the quad bike while we waited for the cows to get to the farm. He said that the fields that the cows spend their days in are a mile down that road from the farm. They go to the fields in the morning, spend all day there, and then come back in the evening to be milked and to shelter overnight.

I can't see it being practical for the farmer to clean a mile of country lane twice a day, 365 days a year. So, either he doesn't clean it or he has to get rid of the cows. I am no fan of cow pat-covered roads but I wouldn't really want to put farmers out of business because they do not own land in the right place.

You're right and I accept that a few deposits from cows, horses and the like are an unavoidable consequence of countryside cycling - it's one of those things, and you keep your eyes peeled to avoid them (hopefully!).
However there are some lanes where there is a sea of mud and there is blatantly no effort made to mitigate the mess that is being dragged out of fields or farm yards and left behind, which can be downright dangerous. I don't know what the solution is - technically it's illegal to leave the road in that state, but almost certainly there won't be any resources to follow up reports (let alone take any action) unless someone is seriously injured or worse.

 

[ColinJ]

However there are some lanes where there is a sea of mud and there is blatantly no effort made to mitigate the mess that is being dragged out of fields or farm yards and left behind, which can be downright dangerous. I don't know what the solution is - technically it's illegal to leave the road in that state, but almost certainly there won't be any resources to follow up reports (let alone take any action) unless someone is seriously injured or worse.

INDEED!