Bunge

I need to have a whinge.

I cannot remember a time when uk roads were in such a terrible state!

Whether it has been caused by bad weather i dont know but roads around my way appear to be literally falling apart and some are now just dangerous.

I live near winchester own an 03 WRX and have to say that most of my driving concentration is now taken up looking out for pot holes etc.

For those that know the area Kiln lane in otterbourne is particuraly bad (dangerous in parts) and hocombe rd chandlers ford is also pretty poor.

There are now more cars on the road than ever before and we are constantly being stiffed by the goverment on petrol tax/road fund licence/speeding camera fines etc etc what the hell are they doing with the money!

All the councils do it seems is call out the local gypo's who blob a bit of the black stuff in the hole tap it down and bugger off probably charging hundreds of pounds for their quality work! that repair will last probaly a couple of weeks berfore it needs doing again!
That bloody jobsworth road minister johnny fatty lazy bstard two jags presscott needs a kick up the ARSENAL! GGGRRRRRR

thank you!

How bad are the roads in YOUR area?

Regards
Bunge

Creepy

See it from the other side : you have probably a 4*4 Impreza with superior road holding, even in standard outfit.
Imagine what it is to drive those roads in a 911 Turbo or M3 CSL,

Creepy

Rally

Ditto to that, roads round us are really bad, you need one eye on pothole watch, one on speedo, one on mirrors and then I suppose one more the watch where you are driving.
Leeds seem to be good at bodging the repairs, but anything is better than a big hole, they fill them with a day or so of them being reported so as to avoid paying for numerous damaged alloys and tyres (of which they seem to do without much argument).

I had a 309 GTi last year whilst saving for scoob and the nearside wishbone bushes went.
I have had my scoob 8 months and I suspect bushes on both sides have gone by the knocking noises I am hearing when going over uneven surfaces.
Time for some Poly PreFlex ones I think now and hope they last a bit longer.

As per my profile name I compete in stage rallies and joking aside some rallies I have done are smoother than the public roads!!!

PETENAUD

What gets me is that you can go and drive in the middle of wales and the roads are perfect, here in bucks, i carry a rope so i can get out of the pot holes.

Then again how much of all the road / car taxes are spent on roads and transport??

pappasmurf

I know what you mean. B Roads in Cambridgeshire and South Lincs are to be found in an appalling state of repair....just sinking away into the fen.
Now we have a gang going around stealing the drainhole covers on the roads for scrape metal. £20,000 of iron drainhole covers pinched to date leaving big holes everywhere.

Iwan

If the potholes get much worse round my way i'll be upgrading my Scooby to gravel trim!

Sonic Blue Type R

iTrader: (3)

All the roads in and around Edinburgh are really bad, and to top it all off the local councils have just put up the council tax, and they say they will have to put tax up again next year to tackle the state of the roads.

I thought that road tax was to cover road repairs, but now the local councils are saying that they need to increase council tax to sort out the problem with the roads.

Something is totally fcuked up somewhere alomg the line, just like the majority of Government issues!!

If local coucils are having to ask 'us' for more money, then the Government must be pissing our money away in other areas, but there is no way on this Earth they would admit to that, they would rather get sacked than actually tell the truth, for once!!!

Terzo228

please don't get me started on this , makes my blood boil

StickyMicky

try fitting sum jap spec coilovers mate, will make you feel much better

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

Could'nt agee more lads, the roads in bedfordshire where I live are a disgrace, my eldest son damaged one of his 18" wheels the other day and has put a claim in for a new wheel and tyre.
Cheers
Colin

Gez

Well we have the same problem in London. I dont think i have ever driven on a road without a pothole or a road that has been dug up and not covered properly. We pay the so called 'ROAD TAX' which is meant to be for the upkeep and maintenance of the roads that we use. From the looks of thing all we pay it for is to allow the Labour party to have more taxpayer paid functions. In my mind, TAX is legal robbery fullstop.Sometimes i wonder what im still doing in this country.

Cheers

Gerry

Poor Guy

me and my dad have 60's designed cars. he said how much better motoring was back then because the roads were so much more smooth without a pot hole in sight.

Wish id have been bout in the 60's with my GT6. 5 star fuel, no gatsos. new roads all over, good music.ssssssiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhh

*Sonic*

I agree

a lot of the roads round by me, are full of potholes, theycome and repair them with tissue paper, and two days later they are back to how they were

Doesnt only 5% of the Road Tax License go towards roads

Ozzy Scoobourne

can't say the roads around me are too bad with a few exceptions, still there always seems to be roadworks even on the good bits! Is it me or does the volume of traffic on the roads seem to be increasing at a rapid rate. I had to change my route to work because there were so many cars. Still the upside is that I use the back roads now which are obviously more fun now that I have a scoob..

The Zohan

According to R4 today (and i hope this is right) we pay £44bn and £6-8bn goes on the road, the 44bn not sure how the 44bn is made up imagine from road fund and fuel duty.

*Sonic*

driving on the roads it feels like they only spend 6-8 pounds, never mind millions

r5obbo

bunge, you've started something here the roads round mid lincs are also as bad and were before the winter came ! does this mean another hike in road tax innevitable, they must know it aswell,

Rog Ford

Vehicle Excise Duty is neither a tax on roads, nor a tax for roads.

Why don't you lot call it "school tax", then you could more useful complain that it isn't
all being spent on schools.

Rog Ford

Oh and by the way, if we really were paying trillions, that would be around 100 grand per car per year.

*Sonic*

Rog Ford

Lighten up a little, trillions was the topic of the thread, the actual cost was mentioned in the thread if you read it

Plus most of us have no idea where the Road Fund License money goes to

jonny gav

iTrader: (1)

two friends of mine have claims pending with the local council for bent rims due to bloody big pot holes!!!

vindaloo

Bucks and Berks must have some of the crappiest road surfaces in the UK.

ISTR there was a "spot a pothole", tell the council thing in the Herald last year. People reported gazillions of the things.

No-one ever seems to resurface roads properly anymore either. Bit 'o' runny tar, chippings, job's done, lovely.

I know more cars and more lorries will wear roads out quicker but for gawd's sake, that we're there in the first place means that's where the money's coming from.

Jeremy.

Bunge

Some good posts on the subject and im glad too see its not just hampshire scoob drivers suffering!
There is a lot of talk about the road fund licence on the thread but i would think the goverment actually gets hell of a lot more money from fuel taxes? isnt about 80% of the price of a gallon of optimax given straight to fatty two jags prescott? where is that money going ? certainly not on the roads!

And why is it other countries dont have this problem? German/French roads are loverly.


rog re trillions ok billions then.........:-)

mutant_matt

Approx 80% of cost of fuel is tax
VAT on the car when you buy it
Road Tax/Vehicle Excise Duty every year
Tax on vehicle insurance
Council Tax (which went up 35% last in my part of London for Red Ken )

All of these things most motorists pay and get sod all back. The roads in London are the worst I've ever seen and are often frankly, downright dangerous!

What does the future hold, more Congestion Charging, road tolls and possibly even road charging too. If the public wasn't so stupid/apathetic, the politicians would't be in the position they are now where they know they can do what they like because it won't make any difference, they won't get voted out at the next election.....(not that the other lot would probably be any better )

Bunge

as someone posted earlier im starting to wonder why we live here anymore as the GREAT has certainly gone from Britain imo

found an article on the bbc website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3186991.stm

UK local roads 'deteriorate'

Government targets 'will not be met'
The condition of three-quarters of Britain's local roads, footpaths and cycleways has deteriorated over the past year, according to a survey by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
The research, compiled from Britain's local authorities, estimates there is a £8.3 billion backlog of maintenance to be carried out.

The poor state of the local highways network means the government will fail to meet its 10-year Transport Plan targets, says the Institution.


The Transport Plan, published in 2000, included the commitment to halt the deterioration in local roads by 2004, and eliminate the maintenance backlog by 2010.

The survey says the problem is being exacerbated by evidence that local authorities are spending money meant for roads on other things such as health and education.

Footpaths are also deteriorating
John Sanders, chairman of the ICE Municipal Engineering Board says: "At present, it is up to each local authority to decide how much of their allocated highways maintenance budget they spend accordingly.

"In some instances, little more than half is currently used to address the deterioration."

He said road planners were frustrated by the "patch and mend" mentality of road maintenance and said money for roadworks should be "ring-fenced".

He added: "Do we want to sit back and watch our local roads disintegrate into a network of potholed cart tracks?

"Are we happy to have streets in a state of constant disrepair?"



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What do you think of the state of the roads where you live? Click here or scroll to the bottom of the page to send us your views.

Many of the roads in my area are in a terrible state, believe it or not, this is due to the council only doing half a job in my view. Filling in potholes with tarmac but leaving the edge higher than the existing road which in time comes away as cars drive over it, instead of doing the whole road. Perhaps if the council used less money on laying the many many sleeping policeman on our roads, then there would be no need to increase our council and road tax each year and repair our roads properly!
Luke Broadbent, England

The evidence is quite clear here in Brighton, where the council is obsessed with obstructing road users to the maximum extent possible, spending money desperately needed for highway maintenance on so called 'traffic management (congestion causing) schemes', cycle lanes to nowhere, bus stops built out into the middle of roads to stop vehicles passing stopped buses, random kerb build outs and mini roundabouts, not to mention the various plans to reduce the number of useable lanes at major junctions, and the exponential growth of the traffic signal population. The authority's own surveyors report that many of the major roads into the town are way beyond the end of their useful life and need complete renewal, but the required budgets always go elsewhere, despite the year on year council tax rises at many times the rate of inflation. (16% this year !)
Paul, Great Britain

There is never enough money to repair the roads, but always enough money to build speed bumps

Steve Fermor, Worcester
There is never enough money to repair the roads, but always enough money to build speed bumps. These are proven not to work, the faster you drive over them, the less they are felt, so they only slow down slow drivers. I think potholes are left to make driving as unpleasant as possible, because everyone hates the car these days, except for the tiny amount (38,000,000) of us who drive.
Steve Fermor, Worcester

The roads around Ealing (West London) are in a bad state and when they do re surface the road you can bet you're life that a utility company will come along and dig up the same road only to repair it by patching it up leaving it un even. Can't the council communicate with the local companies so that they can dig the road once and relay the pipes, cables and repair the sewers all in one go saving money and disruption? After all We pay road Tax, Tax on petrol, Insurance Tax and Vat when your car goes into the garage for repair. There is no excuse.
Michael Wood, UK

I recently had to repair my front suspension due to a collision with a large pot hole. This was the last straw that had me writing a letter to the council responsible for that road. However a couple of days later, before I had finished and sent the letter, that road was being repaired. It is now in great condition. In fact, I feel Watford council deserve some recognition for the fact that they are resurfacing many of their roads, and are managing it with surprisingly little disruption to traffic.
Ferret, UK

The problem with poor maintenance is not just in England. Here is the USA the local authorities have had their budgets reduced by the federal government policies and the economic downturn. We also have a problem that the roads in the USA are built to a lower standard in the first place than in England, so when they start to go bad the whole road gets full of potholes. Having lived in the third world I can assure you the roads in and around Washington DC are worse than those I saw in many African cities.
Mike Thompson, USA

Badgering your local council does work

Kealey Nitchen, England
The road where I live in south east London was recently voted the worst road in London. It has been in a disgusting condition for the last 8 years. But, finally, after numerous letters to the local council, I have received a letter to inform me that the road will be resurfaced in November (subject to available funds of course!) I can only say to others using roads that are in an unacceptable and dangerous state that sometimes badgering your local council does work, you may be luckier than me, it might not even take 8 years!!
Kealey Nitchen, England

The state of the roads in North Somerset are that of a third world country. When driving, I spend most of the time looking out for potholes instead of concentrating on other road users. It's like being on a mobile phone all of the time because you are permanently distracted.
Richard Green, England

The roads within the Coventry City boundary are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Even the policy of pothole filling task quick reaction task forces is not keeping pace with the problem. The City Council do not appear to have a policy of road resurfacing and are obviously relying on the national government to panic into supplying extra funds, having spent their annual road budget on their own pet schemes.
S E Bennett, England

I'm convinced that between the speed humps and the potholes the life expectancy of my car is greatly reduced

Rees Tidbury, UK
Considering all the taxes I pay to be able to drive in the UK, I get increasingly annoyed at the terrible condition of my local roads, of which the only money invested seems to be wasted on badly positioned newly created mini roundabouts, single file gateways and speed humps. I'm convinced that between the speed humps and the potholes the life expectancy of my car is greatly reduced - repairs being another additional cost. Spend the 'road safety' budget on more street CCTV (it's better to catch and fine offenders) and return OUR roads to a smooth pleasant condition similar to all other modern countries.
Rees Tidbury, UK

I live in South-East London, and cycle to work in the City. I endure pot-holes and rough "terrain" for most of my 30 minutes commute.
Virginie Casin, England

The local roads in rural Stirling district are in an appalling state, effectively a series of interconnected potholes. One person I know compares our local roads to an old sock, with the comment that soon there will be no sock left to darn!
David Lonsdale, Scotland

The roads in Oxfordshire (Henley area) are terrible! I have had to replace two tyres and a wheel whilst my fiancée has replaced one tyre all due to damage caused by excessively large potholes! Considering the amount raised in motoring related taxation (Including fuel duties) it is an appalling state of affairs which has become more obvious since labour took power.
Alistair, UK