Pot Holes - Larger than Life

[Lightning CycleQueen]

I don't know if anyone else is experiencing it, but the potholes in the UK are getting worse and worse. A lot of them are not potholes anymore, they're craters.

I drive as well as cycle and its getting more ridiculous how many pot holes I have to dodge and some of them I can't.

sorry about the rant but I feel like im going to break my car.

 

[ianrauk]

It's bad everywhere. My street resembles the surface of the moon.

 

[winjim]

Road surface here is the worst I've ever known but they have been putting in some larger pieces of cycle and pedestrian friendly infrastructure so I'm hoping it's a redirection of funding and resources which will ultimately benefit active travel.

It is bad though, I wouldn't ride a road bike on these roads. I had to buy some wider tyres for my commuter, annoyingly I could only go up to 30mm with my current mudguards although I'd rather have 35mm on these surfaces.

 

[Mo1959]

sorry about the rant but I feel like im going to break my car

Several people have around here, and it’s very rare to get the council to admit liability and stump up for repairs.

 

[matticus]

Rain.

Or rather ... the rain sitting on the road surface for hours-> days.

I used to think frosts were the main tarmac killer, but I barely saw any this year and it's been easily the worst winter for potholes. what we HAVE had is 2 months without dry roads - and that's the same period when the holes multiplied.

 

[ColinJ]

Rain.

Or rather ... the rain sitting on the road surface for hours-> days.

I used to think frosts were the main tarmac killer, but I barely saw any this year and it's been easily the worst winter for potholes. what we HAVE had is 2 months without dry roads - and that's the same period when the holes multiplied.

I was just reading about this process, here...

What Causes Potholes? (And How to Prevent Them)

 

[laurentian]

A couple of weeks ago, I hit a pothole in the eveneing which blew out a tyre on a pretty rural road. Pulled over into a gateway, changed the wheel in the dark and rain and got home.

A few days later on a Sunday night, Mrs Suggested getting a curry. As I had the spare on my car, asked if I could borrow hers . . . guess what? Another pothole and another blown tyre.

£180 to replace both tyres on the Monday morning. Options for tyres were expensive, mid-range or cheapest. I opted for cheapest . . . what's the point in splurging on top of the range tyres when you're likely to hit another pothole in a few weeks?

 

[annedonnelly]

Several people have around here, and it’s very rare to get the council to admit liability and stump up for repairs.

I think it's easier to get them to admit liability if the pothole has previously been reported. So worth reporting them as soon as you see them - before you hit them. FixMyStreet is useful for reporting them - and other things like fly tipping.

I've had good results reporting them on bus routes. I mention the problem if a cyclist hits one and comes off in front of a bus.

 

[ColinJ]

My sister works part-time in a village shop near Exeter. She tells me that lots of customers are coming in complaining about punctures, wrecked wheels, and damaged suspensions on their cars due to the poor state of their local roads.

 

[FishFright]

It has to be time to vote for a party that will increase taxes for a decade or three in order to fix the infrastructure.

 

[Fastpedaller]

He's some we saw in Cambridgeshire on Sunday - The area has some real craters (a year ago there were over 80 reports for one roundabout over the A14.) And Cambridge CC is rated as Amber - I don't know how a red wasn't justified!

 

[Oldhippy]

It is the perfect time for a brave politician to advance the idea of extra taxation on motoring in general. They use the surfaces and they all contribute to the damage. Instead of building endless new and bigger roads repair the ones we have and tax motoring for the privilege. I fear the motoring lobbies however have a death grip on the government and would create merry hell. It would pass in time though and force people to confront the fact if you want a car there is a price for it.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Are county councils still circling pot holes with white spray paint? I drove to nearby Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley Lancashire yesterday, on a wet and windy day and encountered lots of pot holes holes that weren't white paint circled. The Ribble Valley is supposed to be one of the most affluent boroughs in Britain, so why can't the council afford to mark their potholes folk ask. Well, as we know it's the county not the borough council which is/are responsible for the roads of each town. Therefore Lancashire County Council are responsible for marking pot holes in the borough of Ribble Valley, not the town council. I didn't see any pot holes white paint circled which meant they were hard to see, especially on a wet road.