How easy is it to try and do something about a subject we all love to moan about? The state of our highways...
Well, I thought reporting a pot hole in the road would be fairly easy. But was I wrong, just as everything else I try to do at the moment, it turns into a drama. I had called West Sussex Council's highways department and I could not have had a better time. The lady I spoke to was polite and explained exactly what information I needed to supply her with. After explaining where the hole was, she informed me I had to call East Sussex as Newick village was under their control.
I should give you some background first.
I use the road once or twice a month, but as we rode down the A272 to Chailey on Boxing Day huge potholes had appeared. On our way we have to go through the village of Newick and that’s when the story begins.
Due to the snow, the road has become very patchy indeed. In Newick village there were 5 large potholes in quite dangerous places.
The journey to the pub seemed to be more of a test of my bikes handling than Boxing day jolly. So back to the story, I proceed to call East Sussex Council’s highway dept.
They asked where the holes were located,
I told them Newick village. The young lady I spoke to asked me the size of the holes, the depth, exactly where they were in the village and the postcode. Yes, you read it right, the postcode for the pot hole! I explained I do not live near the holes so did not know their correct address and as I only ride over them, generally with traffic behind me, I was unable to measure their size or depth. She seemed to get irritated with me at this, she explained she needed an exact description of them so she could tell the workmen where to go to repair them.
Now I had already explained the holes were just before the pedestrian crossing on the green in the village. For those that do not know Newick, it really is not big. The main road runs straight through it and the green is not even as big as a football field. Again I tried to explain that the holes are just by the ONLY pedestrian crossing in the village.
I started to get quite exhausted with explaining, so just said if the workmen cannot find the holes after all of that, then they will need to get their eyes tested. I had to laugh and really tried not to be too sarcastic.
She told me she really was not trying to be difficult but if the workmen go out to do the job and do not have the exact information they will not do it. To cut a very long and frustrating conversation short I explained a few more times the directions to and details of the pothole. The day after this call we had yet another downfall of snow so I know that the holes were not repaired for at least a week after. After the snow cleared, even more potholes appeared and, of course, the ones that were there are now even bigger
and deeper.
A full week after the snow had cleared, the potholes I reported had been filled. I can understand that the amount of holes that have appeared in the last few weeks must
be considerable. They just didn’t seem to have been repaired properly, they weren’t filled to the top and the holes were still holes, just not as deep as before. In my mind I have this idea of the councils sending a truck full of tarmac and its crew to fill them, they bung a shovel full of tarmac in, then stamp it down with a big boot; it just doesn’t seem enough.
The other implications of the potholes are the costs. These are enormous, so surely it seems better to fill these holes properly so they will last, rather than to fix something short term which will only last a few months at best and then sending another work crew to do the same job all over again and so on. Now of course if you are going to report a pothole, you need to be aware that it may not be filled quite as quickly as you think. If a road is classed as a low priority then it will be filled once all the other main priority roads are done. Interestingly enough we were told by a friend that works for the Government that roads are also rated by the speed allowed.
A council can reduce the speed limit on a road just so they do not have to spend so much on it. This means that they do not have to maintain the roads to such a high standard if the speed limit is lower. This is an issue that I feel more drivers/riders should be questioning.
The cost implications of pothole damage for cars are banged up alloy wheels and possible suspension problems, broken axle and usually a flat tyre. The implications for a motorcyclist are far more serious, hit a pothole and you could be flying through the air. A flat tyre, a large repair bill and possibly a trip to A & E are all on the cards.
There are different ways to report potholes, if there is one that you think should be repaired, you can either check out one of these websites or go to the council website concerned and follow the steps. If you report an East Sussex pothole, then be prepared for it to take some time. Most councils have a system of reporting a hole but they all vary, so investigation will have to be done.
• If you suffer damage due to a pothole then stop and take a picture of it.
• Show its size by placing a credit card, pen or packet of cigarettes inside, that will at least give a rough scale view.
• As soon as possible, report it to the Council concerned and inform them of the damage to your vehicle. Note the name of the person you report it to if you telephone.
• If you are involved in an accident then do all the same but then report it to the Police, this will show the pot hole is causing a traffic problem.
The more of us that report these road defects, the more the councils will take notice and maybe start to repair them to a
higher standard. Links for reporting
www.fillthathole.org.ukwww.potholes.co.uk
I want to go faster, I want to go faster..
