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Old 10th March 2021, 20:59   #21
JohnnyBG
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+1 for the disgusting roads and I think it will be a while before I ride either motorcycle in the dark.

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Old 10th March 2021, 22:32   #22
mh007
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One thing that winds me up is how road safety is drummed into us.


Surely, road safety begins with the surface we are given to drive on!


I seem to spend more time looking out for & trying to avoid potholes, cracks & disintegrating roads than actually looking ahead & around me while driving.
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Old 10th March 2021, 23:07   #23
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The roads locally are terrible.
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Old 11th March 2021, 07:17   #24
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[QUOTE=first-things-first;2870150]I think the local council "engineers" who "look after" the roads should ride a motorbike (or better still) cycle one using a road bike and skinny tyres. Then they will get a "feel" for how badly surfaced the roads are (even before the pot holes).
[\QUOTE]
Totally agree! However, the upper echelons of the local road highway engineering will be provided with a "company" vehicle.

During one of my exchanges with Grant Shapps over the poor state of Hertfordshire road network, he suggested I contact the chief engineer directly, which I did. A meeting was arranged to drive over the routes I thought was bad. At the time I was driving a Rover 820 Vitesse Sport (obviously had a firm suspension). Due to Council policy he could not go in my vehicle (in case I was Mr. Kipper) and I went in his vehicle. His vehicle a soft wallowing Citroen. Needless to say, the journey was....aahem… different!

[QUOTE]
They are using up their budget before year end. To retain the same level next year is I think how the game goes ...
[\QUOTE]
All government, local or national, have to do this or as you say have a lesser amount granted in the next financial year. Councils though, have in the past "transferred funds from the highways budget to, say, social care.

[QUOTE]
I'm actually running out of badly surfaced roads!
[\QUOTE]
Make the move to Hertfordshire if you are feeling nostalgic ;-)
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The next council, Essex often use the age old "chuck some gravel over tarmac", which means the surface underneath is as f'ed up as ever and just covered over. Why bother? The surface is lethal for weeks as the loose gravel is a hazard when cornering.
Well, "Top Dressing" with chips has been in use ever since I can remember. The idea is to keep the road sealed and, depending on the weight and volume of traffic, will be very like a new surface.

Skidding on this Top Dressing Surface? Aaah, that will be why they put up signs warning of skid potential and advising of a 20 mph speed.

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Old 11th March 2021, 07:32   #25
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[QUOTE=Gigagator;2870164]The bad roads in our country infuriates me.

We all claim 'they are particularly bad by me' which can only mean they really are that bad everywhere across the country.

Here in Cardiff there's a nasty habit by the council of fixing potholes so poorly that they are disintegrating again within a matter of a week or two.
I genuinely think my 4 month old daughter could fix a pothole better.

I think there is a systemic problem whereby councils farm out the repairs to third parties who don't care about the quality of the work and just grab the cash and run, effectively.
There's also nobody to hold them to account, as there rarely ever is where public money is concerned.[\QUOTE]

It's all about money and materials. I doubt if many local authorities have their own highways workforce. Certainly either much or all is now contracted out. If the council costed a 3 X 3 foot pothole to be fixable at £100, then outsourcing the job they will want to see the contracted-out cost to be lower. You can guess the rest. The main reason is that the small repairs are not checked, probably a photo from a phone is sent and newly laid asphalt looks good even if it destained to disappear in a few months.

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Also agree with others here about traffic calming measures in particular speed bumps being a nightmare.

The speed cushions are the worst as the inclination is to straddle them so you're not a nuisance on the road and they chew up the inside shoulder of your tyres and over time mess up your alignment.

The main road near me has a school on it so a few years ago it went down to a 20 and down went the speed bumps.

Yes, it is safer at 20 for children but it also massively increases pollution.
I've driven quite a few different cars and none of them are happy in 3rd gear at 20mph so you have to drop down to 2nd - higher revs = more pollution.

To top that off the school closed two years ago and is now nearly all demolished but of course, the 20mph limit and the speed bumps remain.
All so typical. Watch out, 20 mph zones are set to increase along with LEZ's.

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Old 11th March 2021, 07:35   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KWIL View Post
The contractors appear to be paid "per hole" so when it fails again, it's another job at the same rate!

In the old days, the edges of repairs were "sealed" by pouring tar/bitumen along the joint to keep the water out, this does not now seem to be part of the "specification".
Yes! The sealing, apparently, make cycling tyre grip very poor and has resulted in a number of injuries.

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Old 11th March 2021, 07:41   #27
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The dangers of stone mastic asphalt are widely reported :-


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme..._4/4278419.stm



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring...et-a-grip.html



https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.a...debate/334777/
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Old 3rd April 2021, 13:50   #28
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Sat here feeliing despondant ( i think its the right word).


Just went out to set about the task of renewing rear calipers, discs n back plates but the broken rear spring isnt hard to miss so i have stopped before starting....



Couple of months ago got pot holed on NS real bad in the dark on main A road in Lincolnshire. front tyre (new) destroyed so claim went in with LCC. Just found the rear ns spring has also snapped which explains why i thought the rear was feeling a bit low the last weeks. on top of that Just spend a fortune at christmas in dealers having work done on rear now have to claim for that spring and im sure the council will be happy to hear it.



Damn roads!!!
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Old 3rd April 2021, 14:40   #29
grivas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2750 HP View Post
I passed my driving test in June 1972 and had my first car at 18 in August of 1973 - a Vauxhall Victor FB. Both in it and all subsequent cars I have broken very few springs:


Triunph 2000TC around 1985 - rear spring
Bentley Turbo R - front spring around 2007
MG ZT CDTi n/s rear spring around 2018 / 19
MGZT CDTI same car in 2021 - two drop links required replacing and the other o/s rear spring
Also my sons 2014 Vauxhall Corsa SE required a spring replacement.


Up until the pandemic i drove around 25k miles in the ZT each year but this has halved in the last 12 months but pot holes including on some 'A' roads seem to have proliferated.



Are the roads deteriorating?
It is arguably cheaper for councils to pay out for lawsuits ( in addition, keep lawyers and lawmakers in work), than to properly repair our roads.

There are more than 35 million cars , motorcycles HGVs LGVs on the road in the UK, so if on average each driver pays 100 GBP road tax, and 50 GBP MOT that is more than 5 billion GBP in tax revenue, then there is fuel duty, that must bring in at least 20 to 25 billion GBP, so what is the government doing with all these money, they are not spending it on mending pot holes that is for sure.
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Old 3rd April 2021, 15:49   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SCP440 View Post
There is a road a few miles from my house that used to be minor road to a golf course and then on to a small village. A couple of years ago they decided to put another off point the local bypass to link this road as a bit of a rat run and off course there is numerous new building projects that this road now has to take all the traffic from.

It has go to the point that this road is so bad that unless you take a certain route you are likely to either damage a tyre, wheel or your suspension. Numerous people have rung the council because of damage and they are aware of the problem but are unlikely to do anything until all the major building has been finished so as not cause any disruption.

I would have thought putting a new road down before all this extra traffic started using the road would have been the easiest option and hardly any disruption or am I missing something?
Obviously you are missing something....................the councils inefficiency. I have this morning, drove on a road in Kingstanding Birmingham, that they partly closed at night to repair. They have repaired it. The only problem it must have been repaired by a blind person. There are still potholes there. What a complete waste of money.it is about time that the money given to councils to repair A roads, was spent on them. Birmingham’s excuse is the contractor is no good. Well blinking well change them you load of turnips.bbaahhh
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