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.

So here's me in my unpractical vehicle and I manage fine, why da complainin, playa?

Yeah but U got dem phat rims aincha bruv!

I think it is self evident: the roads are in the s***est state I can remember.

I do indeed have the wheels you speak of, old bean.
The A4 is particularly bad considering it's a major road.
However repair works is going to be disruptive regardless of the time of day, people live there - so evening and nights is not practical, and during the day well there is quite a fair amount of traffic.

LOL -respect!

More in NWN on this I see;
http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2013/monster...y-taxi-business

Surprising WBC got away with such small payouts.
I regularly report holes, but find now it can take an age for the infilling to happen.

With all the unemployed, makes one wonder about use of this labour?

Some stretches that WBC see as really bad ieegfrom Stanmore for a 1/2 mile towards the B4494 now has
bumpy road signs at either end; road from Stanmore to E Ilsley is even worse, but not currently signed.
Perhaps they've run out of signs!

Aww, didums.
£90, expensive for repairs on a car?
Lol...

And loss of earnings. On top of that, due to the poor state of the roads, people find themselves taking evasive action on puddles and pothole, making driving even more hazardous.

Like I said, I cannot remember the roads being in such a state for a long time.

My daughter's car went down a pothole and got a puncture. I managed to swerve and miss a few; which leads on to a possible serious accident. And I am not the only one who has swerved to miss a pothole.

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).

I do scan the roads (that is why I saw them and swerved or should I have said manoeuvred out of the way; whatever way you look at it, it depends on the speed you are driving). I also am an experienced motorcycle rider (I have a full licence); I've also got a licence to drive lorries, vans, cars etc. and used to deliver goods years ago.


The routes that have potholes were new routes since the potholes appeared. By the way I've seen many experienced drivers (including professional drivers) either swerving or going over potholes.

So you either swerved or you moved your vehicle in good time?
To swerve comes across as a more "desperate" maneuver shall I say? Where as to spot the pothole in good time and place your vehicle accordingly would not require "swerving". So are you and these experienced & professional drivers scanning the road of swerving at the last moment?

When you say "professional drivers" do you mean "Taxi-drivers"? Because they are not Professional lol.

Irrespective of how many licenses you have (I have 3, bike, car, and to kill), while new potholes do appear "randomly", the ones that are bad enough to causes damage often take weeks to "develop" into fully grown potholes, with billions and billions of atoms.

You build up a picture or a "local knowledge" of local potholes and places were potholes are likely to occur (for example that one that used to be just outside BP in Newbury).

Local to me, they have very badly filled in the potholes by pouring in what seemed to be mastic or that foamy stuff you put on childrens playgrounds. I wonder how many weeks that lasts.

As someone who often mentions their previous Motorcycling experience perhaps you could advise me on how you used to detect & avoid potholes on dark wet nights ( or were you a fine weather rider !! ).

I rode over 20,000 a year, I commuted to Basingstoke and back every day, either going to work in the dark or coming home (shift patterns) - And then weekend pleasure rides.
I had 2 bikes, a STR675 which was my fair weather bike and a Fsz6 which was my daily hack (which had crappy headlights). I managed.

But we are mainly talking here in well light areas (either in the day or in areas where there are streetlights).

Yes


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



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.



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



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.



I can't argue with that.

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

I can't remember the winter weather being so bad for so long! WBC really should have co-ordinated with the Met Office so we had far less rain and snow. Hows the outside painting coming on at your house? Need that out the way before the warmer weather!

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!

A mere novice really then.

I agree with you 100% Andy.

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.





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.




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).



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

(which I found hard to understand?)





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.



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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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...

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

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.

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.

Is it?

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

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

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

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