State of the roads

[Supermofo]

Commuted by bike this morning for the first time this year. I've had a few rides already this year but all countryside As and Bs and they are fairly bad but my old bike commuting roads are absolutely shot. When I'm in the car I stick to the A1 and the main roads but when I go in on the bike I take the longer/nicer route. Particularly bad is a B road to Welham Green and going back a few years I'd be pretty much hacking down there. This morning the whole thing is rippled with lines in the direction of the road meaning the tyres were wondering all over the shop like when crossing white lines. There were a couple of roundabouts with cracks that'd have you off going most of the way round the roundabout meaning you have to stay in a certain section of road. There are bumps and holes everywhere. And it all feels like a massive deterioration in a relatively short time. The Welham Green road wasn't that bad last year (but was surface dressed in the last couple of years which I think accounts for the shit surface) and when I think back to when I was commuting daily a lot of those roads you could properly attack with racing lines early morning, not now.

Sad to think it's only going to get worse too. I can't ever see government committing to sorting the roads out. Feels like the best riding days are passed as now you have to anticipate potholes, gravel and cracks almost everywhere.

[Gregor]

The big trail bike is king these days

[Dodgy69]

Yep...I wouldn't want to ride in the dark. It's a proper shit show and the Westminster cronies don't give a fcuk.

[Rockburner]

Yup - on the ride up to Box last night the roads were terrible. At times I actually thought the rear wheel had come loose it was wandering around so much.

Wet winter, and shitty repairs haven't helped.

[Gregor]

4x4's and trail bikes are the only sensible option these days in the UK, unless you know the roads very well.

It's definitely getting worse, but it throws it into very sharp contrast if I spend a lot of time somewhere where the government looks after the roads, for example Dubai roads are mostly race track grade tarmac everywhere, if the road gets damaged it's fixed within hours, if you get used to that sort of standard and then come to the UK it's a proper eyes wide open in amazement moment.

I hit a pothole that nasty on my Rudge that it snapped part of the steering damper and nearly had me off.

I think I’m going back to a 4x4, working out in the sticks the roads are shockingly bad.

[Supermofo]

At times I actually thought the rear wheel had come loose it was wandering around so much.

Had that twice this morning, thought I had a puncture at first.

[Buckaroo]

My son and I were working on a super 6 cannondale where the cyclist had hit a pothole under a flooded section of road. The rear wheel completely collapsed (very expensive Hologram carbon wheel) and he broke his pelvis. He was riding solo and had to call for an ambulance. Surprisingly the rest of the bike was fine. Dane End area, which I'm sure you know. All around east Herts the roads and lanes are a shit show.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

It's the whole country, everywhere the roads are shit, even most motorways, the only bit of road I've been on that felt reasonable was the M6 toll road.

But it's not a central government issue, councils look after roads and they haven't been doing their jobs, bunch of work shy lazy twats.

[Skub]

The road repairs are tossed out to the lowest bidder and there is little or no quality control after the work is done. They throw a bit of mix into a hole,stamp it down and move on. Later that day the cars hammer it into a dip,then after that into a hole again. There's no incentive to fix the road properly,since they keep getting paid.

It's also a great way for councils to limit speed.

There's also no joined up thinking with the utility companies,nothing is planned and they all dig up the same places time and again.

[Dodgy69]

Afaiac...the government are supposed to manage the country one way or another and they're shit at it.

[Count Steer]

The road repairs are tossed out to the lowest bidder and there is little or no quality control after the work is done. They throw a bit of mix into a hole,stamp it down and move on. Later that day the cars hammer it into a dip,then after that into a hole again. There's no incentive to fix the road properly,since they keep getting paid.

It's also a great way for councils to limit speed.

There's also no joined up thinking with the utility companies,nothing is planned and they all dig up the same places time and again.

There's supposed to be!

It's all supposed to be co-ordinated under the New Road and Street Works Act 1991 (which replaced the Public Utility and Street Works Act ie NRSWA replaced PUSWA). It was introduced to minimise digging/disruption.

What seems to happen is, on the odd occasion a road gets properly resurfaced the utilities have parked their jobs until it's done then they're queuing up to spoil the nice new surface. Coordinated only in that they turn up sequentially and dig up different bits. Then (usually the water lot) keep coming back and digging the same bit up again because they've done a rubbish job. We've got one bit where they've dug it up oooh....about 6 times, the last one was a major operation. 3 way lights (badly adjusted for timings of course), big hole, many vans.


It still leaks.

The water lot are current closing local roads for months at a time to lay a new connector to a reservoir (several miles away) that still has enough water in it to top up our little one that keeps getting topped up by tankers of water. Probably just realised there isn't enough to supply the new houses they were told about years ago.

*sigh*

[Supermofo]

Dane End area, which I'm sure you know.

Yes, know it fairly well as the In laws live in Dane End. Quite like it there but every single route in/out is shite. Gravel, pot holes, floods and too small for the big SUVs everyone loves as well.

[Rockburner]

... the big SUVs everyone loves as well.

Actually - that's another point - vehicles are getting a lot heavier generally, which means they cause more damage faster. IE, once a road surface starts to deteriorate, the greater mass of the average vehicle causes the damage to get worse quicker.

[Scootabout]

Crude generalisation: Tory councillors don't care about potholes because they drive Range Rovers, and Labour councillors don't either because they want to eradicate cars.

Actually, money might have something to do with it. The central government grant to councils has been slashed in recent years.

[Mountain300]

In Devon we are now playing spot the tarmac!

[Yorick]

In Devon we are now playing spot the tarmac!

Welcome stranger

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

NRSWA was a waste of time and didn't work from day 1, I worked for BT at the time, a lot of my job involved planning digging up roads, NRSWA pretty much let utilities off doing proper road repairs and made it the responsibility of the councils.

[ChrisW]

... the big SUVs everyone loves as well.

Actually - that's another point - vehicles are getting a lot heavier generally, which means they cause more damage faster. IE, once a road surface starts to deteriorate, the greater mass of the average vehicle causes the damage to get worse quicker.

And suspension has improved - people notice road faults less, the faults deteriorate further.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

... the big SUVs everyone loves as well.

Actually - that's another point - vehicles are getting a lot heavier generally, which means they cause more damage faster. IE, once a road surface starts to deteriorate, the greater mass of the average vehicle causes the damage to get worse quicker.

And suspension has improved - people notice road faults less, the faults deteriorate further.

Bigger cars, wider tyres, front wheel and four wheel drive, more powerful vehicles, all cause more damage to road than when the average car was a 60bhp Ford Escort and bike was a 50bhp GPz550.

[DefTrap]

I was surprised, last time in the UK, to have my GPS flash me warnings of potholes on the motorway FFS. That can't be right.

But to some extent it's the same over here. Too many potholes, poorly repaired roads and loads that are just subsiding turning them into an effing rollercoaster - really buggers suspension on any vehicle that's remotely sporty.