Worst county for pot holes.

[Freewheel]

Hi all
Having for 30+ years ridden around the country lanes in Oxfordshire (Banbury, Stratford, Shipston on Stour area). I currently believe the roads to be in the worst condition I have seen, varying from the never ending holes that could seat a cricket ball in and not be seen above the surface to the modern idea of chipping that in the shade of trees breaks up over winter leaving a surface that is like riding over a classics cobbled road. (don't get me started on road chipping ).
Last week I came upon a road repair crew who must have worked with a 30 seconds eyes open then 30 seconds eyes closed system. They had repaired some then left others of similar size/depth within yards of each other lol.
When riding I dare hardly look up at the moment.
Is Oxfordshire the worst or is it just me?

 

[Gixxerman]

Lincolnshire must be one of the worst. There are some that are 6 inches deep!
Also I read somewhere that Lincolnshire has more miles of minor / unclassified roads than any other county. As I use a lot of these roads to avoid the traffic, so I get to see the result of very little maintenence, or in some casses I suspect, no maintenace at all. After all there is only so much money for the upkeep of roads, so the trunk roads (rightfully) get the lions share of the budget. So if the amount of roads thing is true, it is not too hard to see why our roads are so bad. I reckon it could take all of 10 years or so to get all Lincolnshire road repairs done that the recent bad winter has caused. The standard of the roads is one reason that I am put off getting a road bike, and just keeping my current hybrid. Even on that, it is still bloody painful on a lot of the roads.

 

[dellzeqq]

Lincolnshire must be one of the worst. There are some that are 6 inches deep!

my recent, but limited aquaintance of Lincolnshire's roads suggests the opposite. Surrey's are far worse.

 

[psmiffy]

Road maintenance in this country has got about 4.5 (at the least) years and several billions of pounds behind what we would perceive as being satisfactory - LAs are playing catch up all the while - the limited funds are used to repair (I was going to use the words properly repair but that is not always the case) the most heavily trafficked spots and strategic routes with a bit set aside to paper over the "cracks" on the minor roads - not even motorists will tolerate paying for the extra funding that adequate (not perfect) maintainance costs - as a consequence I would suspect that if the post was reversed - what county has the best roads? - asking cyclists there would not be many candidates

As cyclists we tend to take the least trafficked options - I cannot see that it is going to get any better anywhere in the UK

 

[Freewheel]

Yes guess you guys are right, this country is now potless it's just a pity our minor roads will never be. The budget for a council to repair all roads to good standard would be huge.
Looks like in years to come we will all be riding MTB lol. without needing to go off road.

 

[psmiffy]

Yes guess you guys are right, this country is now potless it's just a pity our minor roads will never be. The budget for a council to repair all roads to good standard would be huge.
Looks like in years to come we will all be riding MTB lol. without needing to go off road.

I effectively already ride MTB - 1.5" for town - 1.7 for touring and an occasional outing on the 28c on roads that I know are not too bad

 

[Randochap]

I thought it was Blackburn, Lancashire ... or is a day in the life there beset by less than 4,000 holes these days?

 

[jimboalee]

Derbyshire.

I went pot-holing in the peak district. It was fantastic.

 

[SheilaH]

Gloucestershire is pretty bad.

Rode in Wales on Saturday and it was amazing how the border signs with Powys were the start of amazingly good roads.

 

[ASC1951]

The budget for a council to repair all roads to good standard would be huge.

I would much rather have the money spent on that than on new roads - and there would be enough. Unfortunately the industry is still persuading us that new roads relieve congestion and reduce journey times, when all the research evidence is that in general they increase traffic and just move blockages around.

West Yorkshire's roads are not at all bad, although they have got worse in the cities. And I've just got back from a week cycling in Germany, where - shock horror - even their normally immaculate roads now have the occasionally pothole.

 

[guitarpete247]

This section of road, it's on National route 63 the Ivanhoe Trail as you can probably see, was in a pretty poor state. But a month or so back the LA resurfaced it and did a fantastic job. It is now like a race track. Smooth and flowing into the bend I shown that used to almost throw you off. It is now a joy to ride on. It's part of my regular 12 mile run out ride.
It's a pity they had to use chippings on several other stretches of nearby roads. It's cost and I would not be suprised to find out a local councillor lives close to this stretch even though it was closed for most of the week to do the job.

 

[Philip Whiteman]

South Lanarkshire. Not only do they have potholes, they use red granite chipping rod surfaces and then poorly fill holes with black in-fill. I suppose you can at least see these rough black splodges from a mile off.

As for the worst location, my vote goes to the island of Isla.

 

[psmiffy]

We do moan an awful lot about our roads but they are not that bad - I cycled across a lot of eastern Europe last year - a lot of the main roads (Unless they have been EECised) make our minor roads look good - and that is without the cobbles

I think our expectations are too high - I moan like a minny when I get to a bad stretch but assuming that I am awake it is not that inconvienient - that is not to say that I do not know places that the LA should be prosecuted for neglect

 

[toroddf]

In Stirlingshire, 20 % of the roads are now regarded as not fit for cars. I know, I went through there yesterday and had a couple of very scary moments on my racing bike where I almost lost control due to the bad surface. I love that area, but I also love my good health and life.

 

[niggle]

Cornwall's roads are very poor indeed apart from the major A roads; the potholes are mostly untreated and the rest are badly patched, plus the lanes are infrequently dressed with chippings that then partially breaks up again, all making for a very harsh, vibratory ride. Trouble is there is a vast network of minor to very minor roads throughout the county which would cost an absolute fortune to sort properly.

The problem has always been there but this year its worse. We also get the classic grass growing up the middle of the lane plus farm mud and gravel washed off the fields, all of which causes accelerated rim and drive train wear as well grip problems. This all means I don't take my road bike on 23mm tyres half as many places as I would like, instead taking the tourer with 32mm tyres.

(Second post, intro done in the appropriate place)