Saturday, February 05, 2011

Potholes, Potholes and more Potholes

As a result of the recent prolonged cold snap and combination of freezing, thawing and freezing, there is little wonder that some of the roads around Howdenshire and the East Riding are breaking up, and this is compounded by the fact that many of the roads were never designed for today's volumes of traffic and large HGVs.

This is not a matter of filling in potholes; some sections of roads in the East Riding are so damaged they will have to be rebuilt.

The cost of highway maintenance is funded through road tax, however the amount the last Labour Government paid back to local authorities was much less than they took in taxation and not sufficient to maintain the roads.

The cost to repair and rebuild our damaged roads will be huge, and it will take time, but East Riding of Yorkshire Councillors have made a pledge that the Council will undertake this work. .

We are not waiting for the damage to be reported, the Council has more than a dozen crack teams filling potholes as they go around - We think this is very much a common sense, practical short term solution as we cannot repair properly until the weather allows, and the full extent to the damage is known.

But motorists across the region are still being asked to report any potholes they come across to the relevant authorities. Potholes on minor and residential roads are dealt with by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council while those on major roads including the A63 and M62 are dealt with by the Highways Agency.

To report a pothole to the ERYC please call 0845 600 1 666
or email: highways.customer.care@eastriding.gov.uk
For major routes please call the Highways Agency on 08457 504030
or email: ha_info@highways.gsi.gov.uk

4 comments:

Kev Owen said...

To my mind, the over use of top dressing (bitumen and chippings)on roads that are well past their allotted time for relaying, is a major factor in number and frequency of potholes we are experiencing on our roads whenever we get a 'cold snap'.
Another cause is the wrong size chipping being used during the top dressing process for the amount of traffic a given road will experience, leading to a premature breakdown of the treated surface(the effects of this we can experience by taking a short drive along Knedlington Road).

Top dressing is intended to be a cost effective means to prolong the serviceable life of a road surface that is nearing the end of its untreated serviceable life. It isn't meant to replace proper maintenance or renewal of an already worn out surface which is what it appears to have become.

If the top dressing process isn't done properly, it is nothing more than false economy and we find ourselves with roads that require more than a simple top dressing to make serviceable again.

Perhaps our Councils and Highways departments should keep a closer eye on those contractors employed to lay top dressing to ensure that the proper materials are being used and whilst they are 'at it' revisit their road maintenance schedules and stop trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear in over use of top dressing when a complete relaying of a road surface is needed instead.

Yes, it will cost more in the short term, and in these belt tightening times I'm sure finding the funds will be a problem.
However, in the longer term, we won't be throwing good money after bad in paying for so many repairs to road surfaces whenever we get a bad winter.

Anonymous said...

My opinion is, in this toilet bowl of a country, if we stopped giving millions away to the european cesspitt and other areas which do not benifit this land. We would have the money to get the roads sorted correctly as they should. But or no good old Britain will see itself skint like it is and drive its people to dispair. Its about time that cameron started to contruct a spine and stand up for this country. Its all ok him going on saying in parliament that he does not agree with half that goes on. But when is he going to have the guts and say enough is enough a full pull out, and sort ourselves out. Because to be honest the wealth of this country is down to a shilling and a pair of underpance as it is. Two words for this country the way its being run. NO HOPE.

Yorkshireman said...

Anonymous speaks a lot of sense. Europe drags us down at every turn. I think we should pull out entirely and at a stroke get rid of the human rights act with all its nonsensical influences. Thank god our parliamentarians had some testicles when voting against giving prisoners a vote. We should also get rid of Ken Clarke - he is so out of touch with the public he has no credibility left.

Anonymous said...

Paul sorry for going off the subject of potholes but I have to say this.
What the hell is going on with this human rights crap, sex offenders, pheadophiles and rapists having the right to be struck off the register, totally disgusting. If it was up to me it would be the Gallows for the lot. I good old european court of human rights, but its like this Mr cameron after stunts like that, you have no choice but to pull out and go it alone. And maybe ordinary working people would have the money to feed themselves after I've watched a program tonight about food banks. Working people in salisbury that cannot afford food. What the hell is going on with this country we can give europe god knows how many millions a day to give these M.E.PS a nice old jolly on the taxpayer expense, but no money for the hard working people of this country to feed themselves. NO HOPE.