To be shocked at the state of roads

[BenefitWaffle]

In the last year especially so many roads seem to be in a terrible state. I now drive main roads whilst keeping an eye out for pot holes. And some pot holes are so deep. It is like driving in a developing country. Only the motorways seem okay still.
Is it this bad where you live?

I think it has less to do with road service/repairs and more with the kind of weather we had this year. We've been driving from Dorset to Peak District over the weekend, the amount of potholes is absolutely shocking BUT completely equal and very evenly spread across all 200 miles and 5 counties. Also many of those are very deep, like little sinkholes with empty caverns underneath. Looks like the tarmac is hovering above completely washed out soil in many places.

We definitely see the "patch" repairs round here, they seem to last about 5 mins in the stretches of road lots of lorries use

Where I am the phrase is "it's like Beirut round here" - not very PC.

There's one road I go down in London which comes off a major intersection and goes towards a big supermarket, which has to be seen to be believed. Huge potholes, no road markings, brambles and vegetation growing over half of one lane, and humps of tarmac which are like very tall and round speed bumps where the road has sunk but the drains haven't.

If I hadn't driven down it I wouldn't believe it either.

Terrible around my way. One roundabout has numerous potholes which are very deep. You can't drive into them, you have to work out how to avoid them whilst avoiding other vehicles who are also avoiding potholes as they enter the roundabout

Whilst budget cuts are a factor, they never seem to properly fix them. Even when they had money they just used to patch them up, and soon as it gets wet or frosty for long, all the potholes re-form.
Pavements are bad too. See a lot of older people and wheelchair users struggling.

Patching is cheaper than fixing properly

I live in Ireland but had to go to Northern Ireland last week. I was shocked by the state of the roads. Years back NI had better roads than the Republic but those days are gone. My car nearly disappeared down some of pot holes. Maybe its just where I went up North but the difference was really noticeable.

Where I am the phrase is "it's like Beirut round here" - not very PC

Not very pc perhaps but apparently Lebanon has the title of the most dangerous place to be a driver, so pretty apt.

It's awful where I live in the south east, and yes I agree that it's like driving in a developing county. It's embarrassing that the uk has got to this state. It's not just the roads the whole country appears to be going downhill fast.

I have learnt this from colleagues in the army, some of whom do have genuine experience of driving in Lebanon... I still don't think it's very PC!

If you are a pedestrian you'll see pedestrian crossings aren't checked either, and now only get repaired if you yourself report them more than once.

This is true as in when they conk out it takes days to get them working again. However our council have actually replaced loads of pedestrian crossing lights that didn't need doing. It's very odd - I'm guessing some kind of grant money that had to be spent on that particular thing because although we've got brand new crossings our roads themselves are awful.

The new crossings are a bit shit too though - there's no sound alert and also there's no red/green man that you can see opposite; it's at elbow height on the same side as you, so if someone else stands between you and it, you can't see it. And they're angled slightly inwards so you can't see the ones on the opposite side. It's kind of bizarre just how badly they function in letting people know when it's safe to cross - basically, one person standing next to the display and staring at it knows, but nobody else does.

There is a mini roundabout where I live which is the type that you can just drive over. Most people do because it's a tight turn otherwise and they can't be bothered to slow down properly.

Because of this, half of it was one big pot hole. It was quickly repaired the other day but they left it wet and buggered off and so cars drove over it. Whatever repairs they did were quickly flattened again and now there is an even bigger pot hole in its place.

Totally agree about the worn road markings. There are several places near me where the stop line at roundabouts is worn away. Surely only a matter of time before it causes a serious accident.

If the Tories get in again and continue the underfunding I can't imagine what the roads will become. But they you could say that about a myriad of things from libraries to the NHS to schools to swimming baths.

@HauntedBungalow - completely off topic, but do you really have a haunted bungalow? Please do tell all.

Was just thinking the same as I drove back home via minor roads.

totally agree and thank goodness I saw this as I keep forgetting to report a really dangerous huge pothole with one right next to it near us, there are so many around here and it costs car owners a lot of money every year.

On a particularly appalling road near me someone has put up a home made road sign which says "Rough road ahead, tighten bra straps and remove false teeth.

It’s being made worse by electric cars on the roads, they’re typically 30% heavier than petrol cars so cause more damage and potholes and added to the fact councils are all underfunded so have less cash for repairs it’s a bloody nightmare.

Both electric cars and the high prevalence of unnecessarily large SUV-style vehicles.

Cars on the road are getting bigger and heavier.

Yes, dreadful where I live too (seaside town, South East). There’s one at the end of my road that’s so deep you can see a metal grid structure in the hole, several layers down. It’s bad enough that you would only drive directly over it if you were in a car with huge tyres like a large SUV, so most people have to go around it (or sit and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so you can drive round it).

The UK feels very dystopian at the moment in general.

I'm in Glasgow and the roads are an absolute disgrace here. Some of the potholes are practically sinkholes; people have taken to putting traffic cones in them as a warning because when they fill with rain, they just look like puddles. There are parts of my commute where the edges are crumbling to the point the road is no longer wide enough for two cars to pass each other safely. The council reject the vast majority of claims for wheel damage and will only pay out when pushed for proof of road inspection via FOI or else taken to court.

There is a local facebook group that started as a place to share memes/warnings about potholes but is now a full-on activist group. The most recent protest outside the City Chambers ended up on various news outlets but nothing will change. Eye-watering amounts are being spent on consultation for new cycle paths while the roads are collapsing.

The area, and surrounding areas of where I live have roads that are in a awful state.
Some have literally 'lost' the top layer of tarmac.

Pot hole repairs are laughable and it's more of a piss take that whoever has tried and failed to repair them think that their work is acceptable.
Even more of a piss take is that the council actually accept these repairs, and I use that word loosely, and hand over tax payers money in reward for doing such a poor Job. I can only assume that those doing the repairs have to keep in mind that job creation is also needed inorder to keep the taxpayers money coming to their bank accounts so only do a minor/bodge 'fix' to the potholes/roads knowing that they'll need redoing a few months, if we're lucky, down the line.

It really is time the council started employing a few bods to inspect that workmanship is to correct standards, as in looking like it might last longer than said few months before handing over other people's money.

Up side around here is its now March the time council's have to prove that they need extra taxpayers money for next year's budget so their contractors will be out in force doing a fine splat and pat job of more tarmac...making the roads look like moles have lost their way.

I bought a bike last year. With the intention of cutting down my car use. I envisaged a wholesome 10 minute cycle into town, or to the supermarket.

What i should have done is borrowed someone's bike and done a trial run. Because the roads are horrific. Endless potholes. So many in fact that its just too unsafe to cycle on the road. So my options are to either risk my life, to cycle on the pavement and annoy pedestrians or to drive into town. And yet our council seems baffled why no one wants to take part in their green initiatives and why their £££ shiny new cycle shelters all sit empty.

Lots of pot holes around where I live and also very faded road markings.

I know perfectly well why the councils are bankrupt but I can still be shocked at the state of the roads being in a worse state than I have ever experienced in almost half a century of driving.

@SomersetTart hauntings are everywhere!

Yes, considerably cheaper. It may not seem that way when you see all the workies standing about on the side of the road, but it's very labour intensive and extremely expensive to resurface a significant stretch of road. Money that the councils just do not have anymore.