Did we get bombed recently?, Bloody potholes! Options

[motormad]

Yes

I did then use the word manoeuvre. But then again I didn't know you were going to be pedantic.

It wasn't being pedantic at all. There is a difference between spotting a pothole 25 meters ahead and moving over slightly to the last-minute *yoink* at the steering wheel normally flinging your passengers head into the window and I think the difference was important.

Actually I've never seen a Taxi driver approaching a pothole. No, I was talking about police drivers, lorry drivers, van drivers and the list could go on.

Ah yes, police drivers (who at least in Panda cars) are no more qualified than you or I, HGV&Van drivers, we all know - the pinnacle of driving skill.

Oh, I forgot... I cycle... but you don't need a licence for that. As for the rest; yes.

So going further on from the point it takes time to develop from a little bump to a pothole that can cause damage, I feel if you have enough of a "problem" with the potholes to complain about them on a pokey town forum that you should have the brain capacity spare in your life to either learn where they are (which is not hard) or perhaps complain to the council in a more official manner?

(not necessarily aimed at you directly but more of a general comment).

If you had read my post you would have noticed that I had said that I manoeuvred when going on roads that I haven't used for ages.

Which is fair enough - But was that when you said this?

The routes that have potholes were new routes since the potholes appeared.

(which I found hard to understand?)

Were we? You never mentioned that. I was talking night and day.

In the general discussion of the thread were was no specific mention of time but common sense applies; on an unlit back road it's one thing, and yes during darkened hours it's harder irrespective of surrounding lighting conditions, however it should be made clear that at least around Newbury where the roads are relatively well lit, you can still spot potholes in good time. (generally)

I have a larger problem than most of the Kia and Nissan drivers on here with my stiffened suspension and low profile tyres and vulnerable undercarriage and yet I can just manage, the occasion I was unfortunate enough to be caught out by one, took the £150 bill on the chin as it happens..

I'm not saying I am happy with it, because - Well, it's a shambles. And it needs fixing - But complaining on here isn't going to help at all, only hurt the tips of my finger and eat up my bandwidth.

A mere novice really then.

Could say!
I had no other choice as I had a variety of bikes until I passed my car test (2 years after doing my bike one)
There was me imaging myself with a garage with 5-6 different bikes.. how wrong could I be now

[On the edge]

I don't think the weather this year has been that bad; however, I have not complained once on this thread about the council's performance, so perhaps you would pick another poster to belittle!

It still doesn't take away from my view that the roads are in a right state, and I don't remember them being this bad for quite some time!

Your opening post:-

I know there's a 'war on' and everybody is skint, and I know that the weather has been a bit poor, but I am getting bloody pi$$ed off swerving all over the roads trying to avoid doing my car in on the bloody potholes everywhere.

If that isn't an implied criticism of those responsible for upkeep I don't know what it is. The Met Office and the insurance companies don't agree with you about the weather either. Any practical suggestions as to how we could overcome this problem immediately?

[Andy Capp]

Your opening post:-

I know there's a 'war on' and everybody is skint, and I know that the weather has been a bit poor, but I am getting bloody pi$$ed off swerving all over the roads trying to avoid doing my car in on the bloody potholes everywhere.

If that isn't an implied criticism of those responsible for upkeep I don't know what it is. The Met Office and the insurance companies don't agree with you about the weather either. Any practical suggestions as to how we could overcome this problem immediately?

Any inference of criticising the council (or those responsible) is in your head and not matter of fact. I think you are too ready to jump to conclusions. So if I may, and without you putting ideas into posts that don't exists: I am getting bloody fed-up of dodging pot holes, or even worse, not dodging pot holes. As for the winter, it has been a winter of contrasts and has not been especially bad, albeit wetter and colder than on average, but there have been worse winters in recent past. Practical suggestions? Do as they did last time and get a few vans out and pat some more tarmac in, which has got to be better than a gaping hole.

[Strafin]

I think the word "swerving" is being overused. As a good driver you should be scanning for problems on the surface. Perhaps I do this more than most because of the previous motorcycling experience I have. So I can often see the potholes in good time. So you do not swerve, you rather "swan" between potholes. Especially on regularly travelled routes (so for most of us that's on major trunk roads to and from the shops...) you should "know" where the potholes are.. so you know that opposite the bus-stop there's a nasty pothole..

I'm not defending the council at all - they are joffas and they should fix the road - but complaining about it on here isn't going to do any good.



I agree - The roads are in a terrible condition.
Presumably £90 of damage is going to be an hours labour plus parts. I suspect it was even likely just a puncture so cost of a new tyre and fitting! Or failing that, a replacement spring or top mount.
Point is, not much.
I hit a pothole last year on one of my "spirited drives" out over by Aldermaston. It was in the middle of a corner in a national speedlimit. I hit it, and it caused my ABS sensor (controls the ABS and ESP systems) to fail, and also caused wiring damage which in total cost around £150 to fix. Unfortunately things like that happen so I just took it on the chin..


When your BBS Super RS's get a dented dish then you can start to complain (£300+ of damage).

[motormad]

Your point?

I was hooning it around some nice roads, paying more attention to apexs than the road surface. Which just proves my point. That I should have seen it but I didn't! And it was hardly on a "main" road.

And like I said "....can OFTEN see potholes...." - not always.

[On the edge]

Any inference of criticising the council (or those responsible) is in your head and not matter of fact. I think you are too ready to jump to conclusions. So if I may, and without you putting ideas into posts that don't exists: I am getting bloody fed-up of dodging pot holes, or even worse, not dodging pot holes. As for the winter, it has been a winter of contrasts and has not been especially bad, albeit wetter and colder than on average, but there have been worse winters in recent past. Practical suggestions? Do as they did last time and get a few vans out and pat some more tarmac in, which has got to be better than a gaping hole.

Perhaps we are just unlucky round here, two pot holes, filled in twice and still a mess. The repair crews are already full stretch, where so will these 'few vans' come from? Perhaps I'm wrong, but 'wetter and colder' actually creates the damage, (weakens foundation, expands / contracts materials) then I shouldn't believe everything I read in the press!

[motormad]

You're right OTE.
The water falls and as with water, permeates into small cracks in the road (which ordinarily would be fine).
When it freezes the water will expand as we all know from school.

It's not a "single winter" thing, the last 2 winters (excluding this one) have been terrible and like with bending plastic, you might be able to bend it a few times but then you will bend it and it will snap - Similar thing is happening with the roads. The abuse the roads have had over the last few years have just started to push them to tipping point - which is really starting to rear its head.


Getting men in vans is not the answer. Quick fills which are often not even laid down flat will tear themselves up in a matter of weeks (anyone who remembers the pothole outside BP last year - took 4 attempts before the repair held out for more than a fortnight) - It needs to be properly repaired by people who are not rushing around to get 15 potholes poorly repaired in the day - They should repair 10 to a good quality.

If I can drive over it and feel the "bump" of the surface level difference then to me it's not a good repair because, it's first of all uncomfortable and second of all, it's under more stress being "hit" and going to fail more quickly.

They need to resurface stretches of road that are bad (for example the A4 between Subway and Crown Mead stores in Thatcham is particularly bad). If they did it properly they could have that whole stretch of road resurfaced in a week but on doubts they will take 3 months.

[Andy Capp]

Perhaps we are just unlucky round here, two pot holes, filled in twice and still a mess. The repair crews are already full stretch, where so will these 'few vans' come from? Perhaps I'm wrong, but 'wetter and colder' actually creates the damage, (weakens foundation, expands / contracts materials) then I shouldn't believe everything I read in the press!

The problem stems from inadequate road construction, 'budget' repairs, and inadequate maintenance. We get ice and rain every year, but the big change recently is the wet summer. This presumably has undermined the integrity of some parts of the road. Have you noticed how pot holes appear in the same places every year, and also where the road surface has been allowed to deteriorate? Of course, the council have finite resources and are up against it at the moment, but what irks me is the thought of how much money was spent on resurfacing the town centre (~2,000,000.00 I believe) and the traffic calming measures everywhere - bearing in mind that recently OTE and motormad claim that 'urban speeding' isn't really an issue.

All that being said, I am not saying the council can and should do more, but when we start to consider 'vanity projects' I'd like for there to be greater consideration to those things that need doing first.

[On the edge]

The problem stems from inadequate road construction, 'budget' repairs, and inadequate maintenance. We get ice and rain every year, but the big change recently is the wet summer. This presumably has undermined the integrity of some parts of the road. Have you noticed how pot holes appear in the same places every year, and also where the road surface has been allowed to deteriorate? Of course, the council have finite resources and are up against it at the moment, but what irks me is the thought of how much money was spent on resurfacing the town centre (~2,000,000.00 I believe) and the traffic calming measures everywhere - bearing in mind that recently OTE and motormad claim that 'urban speeding' isn't really an issue.

All that being said, I am not saying the council can and should do more, but when we start to consider 'vanity projects' I'd like for there to be greater consideration to those things that need doing first.

I think you are saying we should now invest a substantial amount and go right back to first basics, fixing the actual road foundations to meet today's conditions. I'd wholly agree with that. As you've rightly pointed out, the hideously expensive town centre surfacing is simply top dressing, designed for supposed short term electoral gain. Similarly the traffic calming measures we have generally employed; road humps. These have proved costly to motorists, broadly ineffective and also contribute to road surface deterioration as well evidenced in Love Lane. If we went back to first basics, we could then actually design the highway to calm traffic in urban areas naturally, narrower carriageways, selective planting etc. etc. So if you are saying that your annoyance with today's conditions would be mitigated if we had a cohesive and properly funded programme to put matters right; and not just 'make good', then I'm wholly with you.

[motormad]

bearing in mind that recently OTE and motormad claim that 'urban speeding' isn't really an issue.

And are you claiming it is an "issue" or just something that happens.
By and large most people do around 30mph in the 30 zones around Thatcham & Newbury anyway...

[dannyboy]

why repair them - it is a good way of keeping the speed of urban traffic down.

[motormad]

Why try to create medicine to fight diseases, plagues, etc. It keeps the surplus population at a minimum
??

[dannyboy]

Why try to create medicine to fight diseases, plagues, etc. It keeps the surplus population at a minimum
??

Not been watching C4's 'Utopia' then?

I'd guess stopping folk speeding through rat runs at zero cost would been seen as a bouns, whereas letting folk die needlessly was not.

[Andy Capp]

ISo if you are saying that your annoyance with today's conditions would be mitigated if we had a cohesive and properly funded programme to put matters right; and not just 'make good', then I'm wholly with you.

I think that is a fair assessment. I think we have spent too much on froth (the towns roads before the hugely expensive paving was fine), but have neglected the fabric of other areas.

[Andy Capp]

why repair them - it is a good way of keeping the speed of urban traffic down.

Is it?

[Biker1]

Is it?

Bit like inverted speed bumps I suppose??
And at nil cost!

[dannyboy]

Is it?

Aye, unless you are a taxi driver or boy racer.

[Biker1]

Aye, unless you are a taxi driver or boy racer.

Now now, don't get presumptive or prejudiced.
Xjay M'Mad will get upset!!

[motormad]

I make no secret who I am.
And well I know by now to never listen to anything Dannyboy says.

[dannyboy]

I make no secret who I am.
And well I know by now to never listen to anything Dannyboy says.

Be mindful of your thoughts motormad. They'll betray you