Refusal to repair a pothole
Discussion
A couple of weeks ago, I reported a pothole on ‘my’ road. It has been there for ages. IIt already has white paint marks where it has previously been flagged for repair, but it was so long ago that the paint marks have almost faded away.
I’ve just had the response from the highways department that the pothole “isn’t a danger to the public” so they aren’t going to repair it…
since when did a pothole have to become “a danger to the public” in order get repaired? What happened to preventing damage to road users’ vehicles?
Surely there’s a minimum standard for road surface quality that isn’t simply based on whether it’s a danger - I feel a stroppy response is in order - am I being a bit too precious?
For info, the hole is about a foot wide, 18 inches long and at least a couple of inches deep. It’s near-invisible when it rains and fills up with water.
I’ve just had the response from the highways department that the pothole “isn’t a danger to the public” so they aren’t going to repair it…
since when did a pothole have to become “a danger to the public” in order get repaired? What happened to preventing damage to road users’ vehicles?
Surely there’s a minimum standard for road surface quality that isn’t simply based on whether it’s a danger - I feel a stroppy response is in order - am I being a bit too precious?
For info, the hole is about a foot wide, 18 inches long and at least a couple of inches deep. It’s near-invisible when it rains and fills up with water.
The frustrating thing is that you can see it's come about from sub-par work that's been done by some sort of utility company in the past.
It can't be beyond the ability of local councils to have a record of all works done and by whom - and should their shoddy work subsequently result in potholes, that company should be either instructed to fix the pothole or invoiced for the repair once it's been fixed by the council.
It can't be beyond the ability of local councils to have a record of all works done and by whom - and should their shoddy work subsequently result in potholes, that company should be either instructed to fix the pothole or invoiced for the repair once it's been fixed by the council.
Surely you know how pothole repair works. month 1, then send a man round to paint a white line round said pot hole. Month 4 they send the man back to repaint the white lines. Month 6 they send a man round to make a temporary repair as the machine that makes proper repairs is busy elsewhere, month 8 pot hole has reappeared due to poor repair, so man is sent out to repaint white lines, and repeat 
My experience is to keep logging it and pestering them.
I live on a 1/2 mile long country lane, serves 4 properties but I am the only one interested in getting potholes fixed probably due to the cars I own. In the 5 years I have lived here I would estimate I have logged 30+ potholes all of which have been repaired, but due to the materials used they have had to resurface the entire lane twice in that time.
God knows how much this has cost the local council, but I pay my taxes like everyone else and I'm like a dog with a bone on my lane.
I live on a 1/2 mile long country lane, serves 4 properties but I am the only one interested in getting potholes fixed probably due to the cars I own. In the 5 years I have lived here I would estimate I have logged 30+ potholes all of which have been repaired, but due to the materials used they have had to resurface the entire lane twice in that time.
God knows how much this has cost the local council, but I pay my taxes like everyone else and I'm like a dog with a bone on my lane.
Funk said:
The frustrating thing is that you can see it's come about from sub-par work that's been done by some sort of utility company in the past.
It can't be beyond the ability of local councils to have a record of all works done and by whom - and should their shoddy work subsequently result in potholes, that company should be either instructed to fix the pothole or invoiced for the repair once it's been fixed by the council.
Very rarely they do (fastest I have seen a 'pothole' fixed was one reported a week after the road works had finished - drain had collapsed leaving a pit big enough to drop a bicycle wheel in (yes, a 700cc wheel fit - I used it for scaling the photo!).It can't be beyond the ability of local councils to have a record of all works done and by whom - and should their shoddy work subsequently result in potholes, that company should be either instructed to fix the pothole or invoiced for the repair once it's been fixed by the council.
According to rumour the utility firm were quietly informed that the council would be inspecting their work at 9am the next day, and billing them for an emergency road closure...
But my main issue is people are here discussing the risk to vehicles - the risk isn't to cars - worse case is a few £1000 for suspension damage; its the risk to cyclists (personal injuries are almost always way more expensive than property) (Hit pothole, fall, break some bones, can't work for 3 months; just covering my salary would replace the average car...)
Yet councils will happily decide the road surface has degraded to the point of needing replacement, yet only resurface to the edge of the cycle lane (because clearly the cyclist, who IMHO has one of the highest risks from potholes (highest probably being motorbikes) doesn't need a smooth surface; It isn't like tarmac was invented to provide smoother surface for bicycles (cars can easily have suspension to cope with harder wearing cobblestone... ) /sarcasm
Funk said:
The frustrating thing is that you can see it's come about from sub-par work that's been done by some sort of utility company in the past.
It can't be beyond the ability of local councils to have a record of all works done and by whom - and should their shoddy work subsequently result in potholes, that company should be either instructed to fix the pothole or invoiced for the repair once it's been fixed by the council.
Absolutely. The utility company should be called back/fined/billed. It's ridiculous how long councils and the public have put up with utility companies taking the Michael. Yet again the Great British trait of just putting up with shoddy workmanship and doing nothing about it. See also Bellway homes, Grenfell cladders etc etcIt can't be beyond the ability of local councils to have a record of all works done and by whom - and should their shoddy work subsequently result in potholes, that company should be either instructed to fix the pothole or invoiced for the repair once it's been fixed by the council.
Edited by popeyewhite on Wednesday 28th August 13:10
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