Potholes getting even worse

[Salted_Peanut]

Asphalt Industry Alliance said:

Resurfacing now takes place, on average, less than once every 100 years

Pothole shortfall getting worse: Annual road maintenance report shows cost to repair roads is now over £14bn: https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/potholes/

[scorcher]

Be a help if the repairs they did do didn’t wash out again in the next shower. A lot of thd minor roads get better repair than the A roads which are littered with failed repairs and trenches in the middle where the join is.

[nute]

Highways England and others seem to have lots of money for installing average speed cameras, pointless gantry signs and smart motorways.

There appears to be nothing to make local authorities regularise the levels of gully covers and other iron works either, meaning they are inevitably left miles out of level with new road surfaces and are a hazard to bikes and push bikes. Add in the pot holes everywhere and it’s bloody hazardous for anything on 2 wheels, as well as beating the crap out of car suspensions and tyres.

[limmy01]

Since I started doing track days it has totally ruined my road riding experience, just none stop banging and bouncing on the crappy roads

[Steve_H80]

So the bill is about £14B. The UK has about 35 million people with a driving license, so that's only £400 each.
I'd happily stump up that as a one off payment to fix the problem, but then I'd complain about road closures while it happened.
Honestly £14b isn't a lot on a national scale.

[trickywoo]

Steve_H80 said:

So the bill is about £14B. The UK has about 35 million people with a driving license, so that's only £400 each.
I'd happily stump up that as a one off payment to fix the problem, but then I'd complain about road closures while it happened.
Honestly £14b isn't a lot on a national scale.

A third of that was lost in covid loan fraud alone. In national terms it’s money in the back of the sofa.

[Biker 1]

In 2019 I hit a pothole on my bike - front wheel was so bent I needed a replacement + new tyre + new brake disc bolts = £410.
I drove my car last weekend to a town 15 miles distant from here - quickest route via a B road. I hadn't driven there for around a year & I was utterly amazed just how bad the road had become; potholes seemingly every 50 yards. Some were so big that all the traffic was going very slowly & zigzagging all over the place to avoid damage. Bloody dangerous & like being in the third world!
As another poster mentioned, the quality of 'repairs' is a joke.

[Birky_41]

Roads are an absolute joke right now

Doing some of my local routes banked over having to bring the bike up change line and lean back over to miss genuine 1ft + deep holes in the ground

Country is a mess right now in my opinion

[slime bomb]

I used to like to ride around Derbyshire but the roads are that bad now, I go a little further to North Wales. They are much better.

[KTMsm]

Report them !

I report all the ones on my regular routes - via fix my street - every one has been filled within 5 days

Yes it's a pain, yes the repairs aren't great but if it prevents an off or a damaged tyre it's worthwhile IMO

[Biker 1]

KTMsm said:

Report them !

I report all the ones on my regular routes - via fix my street - every one has been filled within 5 days

Yes it's a pain, yes the repairs aren't great but if it prevents an off or a damaged tyre it's worthwhile IMO

Good thinking, but the road I mentioned above would take days to survey/report....

[trickywoo]

KTMsm said:

Report them !

I report all the ones on my regular routes - via fix my street - every one has been filled within 5 days

Yes it's a pain, yes the repairs aren't great but if it prevents an off or a damaged tyre it's worthwhile IMO

I've been reporting a genuinely dreadful couple of miles of road for months, the entire surface is falling apart. Its a busy national limit road. There is regular discussion about it on local FB groups.

I've had a couple of replies saying the road is inspected monthly and that the council cannot possibly be expected to maintain it because they don't have any money. The highways guys must go over it in a 2CV to think its anywhere near up to standard.

Its a disgrace.

[Condi]

They're always bad at this time of year, but almost all the bad areas are where utility firms have dug up the road, then it sinks and potholes form at the edge. In general the roads which haven't been affected are not terrible, although it does seem to vary throughout the country.

[Pedro25]

Don't know whereabouts in the UK you are based OP, word of warning never visit the Festival Leisure Park at Basildon, there's a 2 lane stretch going past the tractor factory towards the park that has to be driven on to be believed, cars almost have to swerve round them, in both lanes, I reported this to the LA in December 22, was there again last weekend and if anything the whole stretch is now one massive pot hole!!! Not somewhere I would ever entertain riding a bike over>

[Wacky Racer]

Just as bad in 1967....

The Beatles:-

I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all

[Biker9090]

Biker 1 said:

Good thinking, but the road I mentioned above would take days to survey/report....

Doesn't matter. If more people bothered to report it - and followed up with the council if it's not dealt with accordingly - then it wouldn't get into such a state. I make dozens of reports per month on stuff wrong (pot holes, fly tipping, graffiti, abandoned vehicles etc etc etc) when walking the dog. It literally takes about 20 seconds via the app. If it's not dealt with accordingly then I make a complaint through their website and 99% of the time it gets dealt with. If only more people would do so our environment would be so much better.

[Freakuk]

That's £14Bn before delays, miscalculations, strange estimating increases and finally they'll reduce the scope.... Look at HS2 for example.

There are some shockers near me, I'm not looking forward to the biking season if I head that way. I do however raise potholes direct with the local council via their reporting website. All have been addressed on my little road, it's actually been resurfaced end to end twice in 4 years since I moved in as I keep raising issues as soon as they arise.

[nute]

KTMsm said:

Report them !

I report all the ones on my regular routes - via fix my street - every one has been filled within 5 days

Yes it's a pain, yes the repairs aren't great but if it prevents an off or a damaged tyre it's worthwhile IMO

You don't live in France do you?

[DirtyHarley]

There is a roundabout near me that is quite severely 'wibbly' like a waltzer track abit like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltzer#/media/File:...

To compound matters on the inside section in one of the dips is a cluster of potholes near a badly set drain - the section has been reported multiple times over the last 3 years yet remains crap. Even worse - the three main roads that form the roundabout junctions were ALL completely resurfaced over the last 8 weeks... yet the resurfacing ends as each touches the roundabout.

I know it is the season for them, but there does appear to have been a fairly steady decline in road surface conditions over the last 10 years or so.

[KTMsm]

nute said:

You don't live in France do you?

Warwickshire - which from the sound of things - is better than many areas for speed of reaction

I only started after my wife blew a tyre and damaged an 18" alloy on one

I found out they were only liable if they were aware of the issue and hadn't fixed it in (IIRC) 5 days