Roads just seem to be getting worse!

Bunneh
Bunneh Posts: 1,329
edited June 2009 in The bottom bracket
For the vast majority of road cyclists the road is our home; we spend a great deal of time there only coming off it to nip behind a bush or to take a phone call from our mithering loved ones. Over the years I moved from being an offroader to being a roadie, this has seen me 'marvel' at the complete lack of road maintainence in my town.

During my time offroad I must have hit some treacherous single track, and some downright deadly 'bridalways', but I am beginning to wonder which is the safest - offroad or onroad? Not only am I constantly dodging those deadly grids, which have holes that just fit a road tyre, but I'm also having to swerve around potholes which just seem to be getting bigger.

Then we have the stupidly thought out cycle lanes which seem to end in the middle of traffic, forcing you to actually stop in the center of a dual carriage way! The cars coming up behind you is terrifying, it actually makes the hairs on your neck stand up as they scream past at a good 50mph in a 30mph zone.

I have found that if I leave my town the roads improve, and you can always tell when you hit the boundaries, the holes reappear!

What are the roads like in your area?

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Sh1te.
  • Bikefotos
    Bikefotos Posts: 59
    I live in Cardiff and the roads are diabolical. Oddly enough the more prestigous the area, ie Radyr, The Heath, Roath, the worse the road surfaces. Don't these posh people pay any taxes? Perhaps they are all politicians :wink:

    Furthermore, Cardiff promotes itself as a bike friendly city- what a load of shoemakers!!

    I came back to road riding after an absence of 30 yrs, and could not believe how bad the road surfaces are. I can't remember them being this bad - perhaps it's old age or nostalgia!
  • I really noticed the increased traffic on what used to be 'minor' roads on Thursday. I organised a route from Huddersfield to Knaresborough which took in some roads past Lotherton Hall. Towton (A162), Tadcaster, Boston Spa, Wetherby, Kirk Deighton that I hadn't cycled since I was a child (about 30 yrs ago). In the past I hardly came across traffic but on Thursday I couldn't believe how busy the roads were.

    I think it was more of a shock because it had been so long since I'd cycled it and the contrast between the past and present was just so stark.

    I think what was surprising as well, was I would have thought the new A1/M1 link would have taken traffic off these back roads. Apparently not!
  • NGale
    NGale Posts: 1,866
    I live in Exeter one of the 'cycle demonstration towns' and the roads are shocking. cycling down St Davids Hill is like a slalom trying to avoid the pot holes, Heavitree Road is like cycling through a minefield trying to avoid the cracks and holes. The cycle paths around Exeter are no better with one section of path near my home now impassable to anything less than a mountain bike the surface is in that much deterioration.

    The only part of Exeter which is passable to cycle around in any comfort is what was the Tour Series route on Thursday which was resurfaced in places especially for it. Funny that!
    Officers don't run, it's undignified and panics the men
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Here they will be nice and smooth for.. ooo... maybe 10 yards. Then you have all the usual distractions...

    Write to your MPs and the Government... you get the standard response but they have to realise that things like this are gonna lose them the next election...
  • nicensleazy
    nicensleazy Posts: 2,310
    I have just written to my MP regarding this subject!
  • freehub
    freehub Posts: 4,257
    What are MP's going to do? They are all corrupt.

    Whatever it costs they'll end up claiming it for themselves.
  • hitthewall
    hitthewall Posts: 114
    I live just to the north east of Newbury in West Berkshire. I tend to stick to the country road and some of those roads around here are awful and dangerous for a road bike - surfaces breaking up and full of potholes. The worst thing is the council just patch up and within a few weeks its just as bad.
  • bobtbuilder
    bobtbuilder Posts: 1,537
    Terrible. The council is going through a phase of "re-surfacing" at the moment which involves laying down loads of loose chippings, but does nothing to address things like potholes, cracks, etc.

    Now I have the added bonus of being pebble-dashed by passing motorists! :x
  • Bunneh
    Bunneh Posts: 1,329
    I struggled my way up this huge hill last night, remembering the wonderful downhill on the otherside. I reach the top and to my horror the highways people have seen fit to put cateyes, not only in the middle of the road, but at each side of the road too, right where cyclists go. I do not know what clodbrained spoon thought that up, but I know where I'd like to stick those cateyes.

    Sunny weather, go outside, ride your bike, get your wheel stuck in a grid - it's so much fun! :)
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    variable round here, some are really good, pool table smooth (around 2-3mph faster than before re-surfacing) with grates that have really narrow slots so you can't fit a 23mm tyre through them (I've tried)

    Some I'm pretty sure have been awarded listed status and haven't been updated since Oxford uni was founded.

    There are also two cobbled streets which are great for pretending to be on PR along...
  • APIII
    APIII Posts: 2,010
    I was a bmxer in my youth - the 'bunnyhop' is a useful skill I've retained :lol:
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    Not great, I agree. Poorly designed / useless cycle lanes really get my goat too.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • Porgy
    Porgy Posts: 4,525
    In south east London they always seem to be full of cars. This is not good.
  • STEFANOS4784
    STEFANOS4784 Posts: 4,109
    Will echo some comments and just add that Bath is pretty poor too. They seem to spend so much on crappy tourist attractions that the roads get forgotten :(
  • Chaz.Harding
    Chaz.Harding Posts: 3,144
    freehub :lol::lol::lol:

    I've noticed around Salisbury, you can always tell when you get close to the training area, as there are tank-track impressions all over the shop, and horrible road surface.

    Grrrrrr....
    Boo-yah mofo
    Sick to the power of rad
    Fix it 'till it's broke
  • Eau Rouge
    Eau Rouge Posts: 1,118
    Bunneh wrote:
    I struggled my way up this huge hill last night, remembering the wonderful downhill on the otherside. I reach the top and to my horror the highways people have seen fit to put cateyes, not only in the middle of the road, but at each side of the road too, right where cyclists go. I do not know what clodbrained spoon thought that up, but I know where I'd like to stick those cateyes.

    They put catseyes in the wheeltracks where the passenger-side wheels run? Thats not going to go down well with the motorists either.
  • freehub
    freehub Posts: 4,257
    freehub :lol::lol::lol:

    I've noticed around Salisbury, you can always tell when you get close to the training area, as there are tank-track impressions all over the shop, and horrible road surface.

    Grrrrrr....

    Have you ever managed to race a tank yet? :lol:

    I notice the roads in Manchester are getting better, in the past 8 months they have patched up a couple of holes on oxford road!! yay!!! I can fly on the bus lane now!! :D
  • FSR_XC
    FSR_XC Posts: 2,258
    Try reporting potholes etc:

    www.fillthathole.org.uk
    Stumpjumper FSR 09/10 Pro Carbon, Genesis Vapour CX20 ('17)Carbon, Rose Xeon CW3000 '14, Raleigh R50

    http://www.visiontrack.com
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    On Sunday my ride took in the road from Steeple Bumpstead to Saffron Walden. I kept passing yellow signs saying Cycle Event, so I thought I'd chosen a good route. Until I noticed my fillings coming loose because in many places the road surface had disintegrated. It had the effect of a 2 mile long cattle grid; half the time I was cycling on the wrong side of the road.

    I can only assume the cycle event was some kind of mountain bike affair?
  • Porgy
    Porgy Posts: 4,525
    FSR_XC wrote:
    Try reporting potholes etc:

    www.fillthathole.org.uk

    I'd never make it to work if I reported all the potholes I see. Some roads are just one big pothole.
  • huggy
    huggy Posts: 242
    I've used http://www.fillthathole.org.uk and it has worked in Salisbury area with the holes I've reported! The roads are rubbish but I've seen the council out doing something to the pot holes so I'm hoping it'll get better. New Forest is awful - huge sections where the road just drops into a crevasse, plus there are the damn cattle grids...and horse muck everywhere.
  • kaimag11
    kaimag11 Posts: 31
    Derbyshire roads are rubbish and Nottingham road are not much better. Just come back from southen Germany and the roads are so smooth, i thought i had gone to heaven!! and shock horror, most car gave me lots of room when overtaking.
  • Bunneh
    Bunneh Posts: 1,329
    Eau Rouge wrote:
    They put catseyes in the wheeltracks where the passenger-side wheels run? Thats not going to go down well with the motorists either.

    I'll pop up again tonight and get a photo, it's quite silly where they've put them. I can understand there's no lighting up there, and they've narrowed the road by a good 3 foot per side too...
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Bunneh wrote:
    Eau Rouge wrote:
    They put catseyes in the wheeltracks where the passenger-side wheels run? Thats not going to go down well with the motorists either.

    I'll pop up again tonight and get a photo, it's quite silly where they've put them. I can understand there's no lighting up there, and they've narrowed the road by a good 3 foot per side too...

    Usually they paint a shoulder line. Though on the top of Bursledon road near southampton they put it on the pavement. :shock: :lol:

    Idiots.
  • Droops
    Droops Posts: 204
    It's fair to say that all well-used roads are in a generally poor state of repair. That's nothing new, but I believe they will all get worse because local authorities will have MUCH less money to repair them (or do anything else worthwhile) for years to come because some absolute moron, in an unbelievably naive knee-jerk gesture went and cut the VAT rate by 2.5% a few months ago. Whilst - obviously, to everyone but himself - this won't make any real difference to anyone's purchasing decisions, it does mean that central government has lost BILLIONS of pounds of tax revenue, meaning they have billions less to give to local authorities etc.
    Just watch. We'll be feeling the effects (through our arses!) of this stupid, panic move for years.

    OK. I'll put my strictly-non-political soapbox away now.
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Droops wrote:
    It's fair to say that all well-used roads are in a generally poor state of repair. That's nothing new, but I believe they will all get worse because local authorities will have MUCH less money to repair them (or do anything else worthwhile) for years to come because some absolute moron, in an unbelievably naive knee-jerk gesture went and cut the VAT rate by 2.5% a few months ago. Whilst - obviously, to everyone but himself - this won't make any real difference to anyone's purchasing decisions, it does mean that central government has lost BILLIONS of pounds of tax revenue, meaning they have billions less to give to local authorities etc.
    Just watch. We'll be feeling the effects (through our arses!) of this stupid, panic move for years.

    OK. I'll put my strictly-non-political soapbox away now.

    Very well put.

    And it is to be remembered that this and the bail out of the banks were done to aid us, and yet the big corporations and the banks have been the ones profiting and refusing to pass any benefit on to us. :?

    Charming.
  • Starwasp
    Starwasp Posts: 59
    I work for a 'big' corporation which has laid off half its workforce in 2008, and lost millions over the year. I can assure you that if the Government had not bailed the banks out, then we may well have lost the remaining half.

    The point was never about passing benefit onto you. It was done to stop worse things happening to you!
  • Cressers
    Cressers Posts: 1,329
    A combination of a hard winter and years of shoddy patching is finally taking it's toll. Yet there are sections of concrete slab road nearby that have been unmaitained for forty years that are still perfectly good, it's time that all roads were of this type, tarmac is just a short-tem thing...