Potholed roads not fit for purpose (Henley Standard)

Thank goodness it is not just me! On Friday 26th March 2010 one of the headlines on the front page of the Henley Standard Newspaper read “Potholed roads not fit for purpose” according to an industry body. The article explained that “A survey published this week by the Asphalt Industry Alliance found the number of potholes on roads in England and Wales has risen by 40%. The result is a £400m black hole in local authorities maintenance budgets.”

Mike Linley, Chairman of the Asphalt Industry Alliance was quoted as saying “Extreme winter weather would not cause so much damage if our roads were fit for purpose. The consequences of our under-funded roads maintenance are now writ large. These include compromised road safety and wasted time as road users are held up by unplanned roadworks.”

According to the Henley Standard “Oxfordshire County Council is carrying out a £1m programme of road repairs to fill an estimated 5,000 potholes a month.” Geoff French, Vice-President of the Institution of Civil Engineers is quoted as saying “There is an estimated £1 billion road maintenance backlog, meaning many roads have been in need of proper repair for a very long time.” Oh how true. Another media report last week said that road works for things like gas, electricity, water and telecommunication etc. destroy the integrity of the original road service and cause it to lose an average of 30% of its lifespan. This on-top of one of the worst winters for 30 years has exposed this practice as an ineffective solution, as well as the massive under funding in road investment.

Geoff French further commented in the Henley Standard (26/3/2010) that “We need long-term, preventative road maintenance to properly address existing defects rather than short-term quick fixes that fail to tackle the root of the problem. Quick fixes will only lead to more maintenance work, more cost and the public becoming more frustrated.”

I have written to High Wycombe MP Paul Goodman and Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve requesting they intervene with Buckinghamshire County Council Highways Agency Department to address the dreadful deteriorating dangerous state of the roads in South Bucks. I have noticed letters about potholes becoming more frequent in local newspapers like the Bucks Free Press and Henley Standard, so lets hope more road users write to them, as well as to their local MP to put public pressure on getting our roads back on track, as at the moment too many of them are more like farm tracks that the infrastructure that the UK residents expect, pay for and deserve.

Vote in our pothole poll about how many potholes you pass on your way to work!