Can we talk about potholes please? Why are there so many?

[Irememberwhenitwasallfieldsroundhere]

Motorways seem to be reasonably well maintained but I recently drove from London to Oxford and the state of the roads is a disgrace.

Does anyone know why? Are councils or the highways agency not responsible for repairing the roads?

It's really shocking - my Waze tells me about a pothole every 10 minutes it seems.

Also, is there anything anyone can do about it? If enough people complain will councils fix the roads?

It's horrific atm

The rain makes small surface issues erode

People have been planting flowers in them. The council then see them as an obstruction and will do something about them.

I was once told if you draw a pair of boobs or a penis around them they also get fixed really quickly!

Rain and bigger, heavier cars. Everyone has an SUV.

Ha! Excellent!

This. Electric vehicles are also heavy.

When the water inside them freezes, it expands and breaks more of the hole open when it thaws. They're a bloody nightmare. I go out with ds, who's learning to drive in my car, and I spend more time looking out for potholes than watching the road. My car is older and very small, so potholes could easily damage it if I hit one.

But if there's more rain and cars are heavier and that means more potholes why aren't councils fixing them? Are they not obliged to?

The Reform party made a big deal of promising to fix potholes in local council elections. They are now leading the council but the potholes seem to be worse than ever.

What a surprise.

Roads that might have been fully resurfaced when council budgets were healthier are now being patched up due to cost.

That really cold period just after Christmas, all the grit put down and then weeks of constant rain really hasn't helped.

From my scant knowledge (boyfriend at Uni was doing civil engineering with a special interest in roads - he was actually a lot more fun than he sounds, honest…) it’s about the cost of road surface chosen.
There are road surfaces that expand and contract with different weather conditions so don’t split and cause potholes, however they cost a fortune which most councils don’t want to spend.

We barely use the small car because of this, we mainly use the 4x4 as it copes much better. But of course it's heavier so worse for roads

Money!! Or lack of it....

Mrs Bennett, were discussing potholes. Trying to drag Reform into this is as tedious as the posters who drag breast hypnotism into every thread about Zack Polanski.

Cheaper tarmac.
Not being mended properly
Gritters out more regularly throwing salt.
Wetter weather/water freezng
Heavier cars, bigger tyres.

Has it escaped your attention they have no money? And it all goes on social care and SE support? Potholes won’t come close to those on the priority list.

Is there a reason why you aren't keen to talk about Reform's failure to keep its electoral promises?

My comments are entirely relevant to the thread. In our last lot of local council elections, Reform put promises about fixing potholes on lots of its election materials. I am observing that the potholes now appear to be worse than ever.

Nice try but I have been very vocal on threads for some time now about my LOATHING for Reform.

Reform (vile treacherous party they are) are having to keep within the law and budget made by the CURRENT AND PREVIOUS government.

There’s nothing they can do. Every council is virtually bankrupt. So this isn’t a flex.

Their secret ties with Russia however..

I hadn't noticed the potholes disappeared when I travel from Northants to Beds

Councils are bankrupt
and decades of cost cutting mean lower quality road surfaces - save the pennies then to make bigger costs later _ sound familiar ?

Our local council repaved our street a couple of years ago. They used the cheapest, lowest quality materials and already many of the slabs are cracked or chipped. There is no pavement parking but most people have a driveway and it seems the paving slabs are not strong enough to withstand cars driving over them.
Our area is prone to large sinkholes because the water pipes leak. They take ages to repair them.
It seems the same poor standards and cheap materials apply to pot holes.
I blame the budget cycles and general incompetence.

I have found them useful for creating puddles for my kids to go outside and jump in during breaks in the rain recently. Wellies of course.

Actually our Labour MP made a big thing about mending potholes, like she was personally going to do it