Poor Road surfaces ... Glasgow and surrounding areas
colintrav
Posts: 1,074
For those that live and ride to work in Glasgow .. am sure you have seen the front page of the Times of the Glasgow City Council stating they will be taking action against companies that do botch road repairs ..
Do you feel the Councill themselves must share most of the blame because it's them that hande out contracts to the lowest bidder when it comes to roadsurfacing ... etc ..
And the most common occurance of all is when a road has just been re surfaced a week or so later we see British Gas or some other outfit digging up the newly surfaced to fix a pipe etc .. and then were are left with Patchwork quilt ..
And recently where I stay the back road towards howood was recently resurfaced or so I though only a small fraction has still on looking at the finished article It's easy to see that the surface will not last any number of years and surfacing a road during winter is just plain madness when they fail to take into account hardfrost .. and when the temp warms the surface cracks because of the change in temp . which results in Potholes and poor surface ..
Do you feel the Councill themselves must share most of the blame because it's them that hande out contracts to the lowest bidder when it comes to roadsurfacing ... etc ..
And the most common occurance of all is when a road has just been re surfaced a week or so later we see British Gas or some other outfit digging up the newly surfaced to fix a pipe etc .. and then were are left with Patchwork quilt ..
And recently where I stay the back road towards howood was recently resurfaced or so I though only a small fraction has still on looking at the finished article It's easy to see that the surface will not last any number of years and surfacing a road during winter is just plain madness when they fail to take into account hardfrost .. and when the temp warms the surface cracks because of the change in temp . which results in Potholes and poor surface ..
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Totally agree, not the best really. On my commute up and down Maryhill Road, (did I mention this before?!) the surface is apalling, with loads of potholes, and patchworks. They seem to be constantly repairing the same parts time and time again - Kelvin Bridge at Bearsden - and never seem to get it finished, but it adds to the "interest" of the morning commute and gets the mind, and senses working overtime. Like a giant video game where you know the hazards, and have to keep a "clean sheet" through the game.
Problem is when the drivers do not play the game and ocassionally force you over a particularly bad hole, or drain. Not had an off yet, but a puncture because of it. If that is the worst I get, then will be happy. Not been on roads on "the other side" towards Howood.
Also you forgot to mention how when they do repair the road properly and get it completely resurfaced they always resurface a section that doesn't actually need done but miss a section that badly does.
So they ended up having to bring the road up to level by resurfacing it .. how did they miss that I really don't know but it was obvious .. And my mate who recently got a new tyre etc for his bike got a puncture .. He wasn't impressed .. bealing infact now having to wait till pay to get it fixed again ..
On the back rd rowards Howood all the Cats eyes needing replaced ASAP they have been out of comission long as I can remember .. and with the Back road having become busier as a short cut for the A737
It's only due to the lack of serious accidents that this problem has never been rectified what makes it more amusing is they stopped before ditch that runs along the left hand side untill you reach the white house .. and in the pitch dark you can't see it .. even for a driver it's poorly marked ..
And for drivers that pull in too far to let on coming tractors got by with haybails etc ... you've got no chance of escape ..of the Ditch
Areas in Stirling district are just as bad as Glasgow, if not worse. My mother in law lives in Fintry, and the roads round there are terrible. I've seen my car's traction control kicking in many times going round corners at very ordinary speeds due to the severe state of the surface (badly rutted and potholed). There are back roads there that I won't drive on now let alone cycle on. I read a few years a go that Stirling Council paid out more in compensation for car damage to drivers than it actually spent on road repairs!
Why can't these councils realise that they just need to bite the bullet and find money to do the roads properly. Even if they have to borrow short term, it will surely pay off long term.
Similarly the main A road from Muirhead down to the Showcase will not survive another severe cold snap like last year.
I did read though that some company has developed a more cost effective way of filling potholes and Aberdeenshire Council have already signed up with a lot of the Greater Glasgow councils definitely considering it.
Maybe what is needed is a combined Roads Agency taking in Glasgow City Council and all the surrounding GG councils?
Even in saying that it's all about looking after your mates .. whereby who wants the contract and a number of companies put in a bid even though they have no chance of getting .. because the winner had already been picked beforehand ....
Even better is the nearing of the financial year .. they have to spend the cash so in order to get next years allowance and this is where we see numerous road works ..
It's like the so called rail works that happen at the same period every single year ...