UK: worse condition roads in the world?

[Tex]

Cripes. What shocking roads. I'll never complain about Sydney's again. Emigrate!

 

[lemmy]

Living in France until fairly recently, I always noticed how well kept the roads were. The policy in my departement, Calvados, was to maintain the roads on a regular schedule.

They found that in the longer term, it was cheaper to do this than continually react to events.

What also helped was the greater democratic depth there. If you were unhappy with something you could go and see the mayor in person. Since he is directly elected, he tends to listen to what his voters say. He himself uses the same roads, too, so he could see for himself.

It's often seems a bit parish pump by British standards but you do get the feeling that your views are listened to and passed up the chain to higher levels where applicable.

 

[steveindenmark]

I would like to get up and say we have it worse than you but I live in Denmark and of course we don`t.

We are kept away from the roads for the majority of the time and our cycle paths are indeed silky smooth.

But our roads are suffering as well and as a motorcyclists can be bad news, especially at night.

The workmen come along in spring and pour more gunk into the holes and flatten them but at the first frost these plugs disappear again.

I think they should collect all the chewing gum that people spit out on the street and fill the holes with that. It is such a pig to shift of paths it would never come out of those holes.

But before you all start complaining take a trip to Malta and see what their roads are like. I am so pleased I decided not to take my bike there.

Steve

 

[10mph]

I think the roads in Jamaica are the worst I have encountered. No trouble with frost. Just extremely heavy rains and often inadequate foundations. Forget bikes, even well sprung cars have to divert onto the wrong side of the road to avoid the bigger holes.

In the 60s I took a Morris minor convertible out there. It shook it to pieces and I needed several welding jobs. the car was not worth shipping back to UK after a year.

 

[Scottyf]

Morris Minor Convertable. Showing your age. I remember my dad (54) having one of those. When I was about 5-6 I used to sit in the back of it and call it the windy car. (Mainly becasue of it being a convertible not some other reason).

 

[bode]

Living in France until fairly recently, I always noticed how well kept the roads were. The policy in my departement, Calvados, was to maintain the roads on a regular schedule.

They found that in the longer term, it was cheaper to do this than continually react to events.

What also helped was the greater democratic depth there. If you were unhappy with something you could go and see the mayor in person. Since he is directly elected, he tends to listen to what his voters say. He himself uses the same roads, too, so he could see for himself.

It's often seems a bit parish pump by British standards but you do get the feeling that your views are listened to and passed up the chain to higher levels where applicable.

When I first starting going to France around 1960, our family used to laugh at the state of many French roads compared with those at home. Most of those we saw they obviously had no intention of repairing any time soon and were marked with permanent signs chausée deformée or even chausée bombée (means bulging, not bombed, though they might as well have been).

How times have changed!

 

[Mussels]

Just to report on the fact that local councils couldnt care less now regarding our roads, every year that I have been commuting to London the councils have always patched up the road before the marathon. This year......Nothing!

They have made it worse leading up to the marathon by sticking no waiting cones out a week in advance, makes filtering awkward and they can hurt when kicked at speed.
Lots of holes have been patched on the bits I ride but not very well.

 

[nab]

when you've been on a nepalese bus in the rain and watched as the bus slides ominously towards a cavernous drop...and the locals are so scared they're throwing up out the window.....and the bus is so close to the edge that the vomit is not landing on the road but is dissapearing down the side of the mountain..... that's when you start to think that any sort of tarmac is luxury!