I just complained to the council about a road on my commute. It was rough. It was patchy, it was uneven. It was pothole riddled.
I didn’t complain back then though, oh no.
But over the past few weeks it has been re-surfaced! Yay!
But all they’ve done is lay a new layer over the old one – so now you can’t see the uneven bits and potholes cos they’re all camouflaged black.

I get a reply – tells me this is called “Surface dressing” and not capable of regulating the surface in any way therefore any defect or profile issues present before the dressing will be present after the treatment is completed

Is it me, or is this a bit stupid? Why don’t they sort out the bloody potholes and crap at the same time? Or is it more efficient to come back and do this later when some idiot cyclist has a whinge?

Poor road surfaces

Only going to get poorer under the tories

They probably drive and never cycle, hence they don’t understand the perspective of cyclists and the additional danger they’ve just designed in. Much the same as most cycle infrastructure

Just re-read the last line of the email:
I will arrange an inspection to ensure that any defects present in the dressing will affect its long term performance

😆

Surface dressing is a complete waste of tax payers money IMO. They’ve done it to quite a few roads around here and it starts to look worn after only a few months

Generally surface dressing is usually undertaken after patching is carried out to remedy and existing defects. It’s pretty slapdash to just surface dress over existing faults although part of the effects of surface dressing is to bind the top surface together to prevent more water ingress which causes the forming of potholes. So basically they’ve used it as a longer term bodge. This is the practical impact of austerity measures.

Done correctly it can vastly increase the usable life of a carriageway. Unfortunately it often is used as a bodge repair and not as it is intended.

Surface dressing is a complete waste of tax payers money.IMO FACT.

FTFY!

DezB – Member
Incorrectly used, surface dressing is a complete waste of tax payers money.IMO FACT.

FTFY!

FTFY 😉

Is this the gravel like stuff they poor on and let the cars smash into a solid lump? Its been put over a load of roads near me, so it starts off with loads of potholes, then they lay gravel so I get pelted with stones while it settles, then I get a slight smaller pothole the same colour as the road. Its Crazy!

They do it all over the place round here, all the roads surface dressed round here last year are pretty much back to their original state… They’ll do it all again soon no doubt the ruts and divets reappear within a couple of days.

roud here , Kent , they lay a few inches of gravel and put signs 20m/h signs . the cars wash it on the side and the middle .

it is very dangerous for cycling .

If your bike will take ’em – get some of those cheap 35c Vittoria Voyager Hypers from PX & just smash through them top speed 😀

We had one of these pass through our neck of the woods a couple of years back

http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/ameys-patchers-fix-potholes-in-two-minute-drive-by

I’ll admit I thought it would be utter bobbins, but the repairs it did have lasted really well. There’s just a bazillion new potholes / craters / portals to the underworld that have appeared since 🙁

the cars wash it on the side and the middle

Oh yes, that was my last complaint. Nearer to home the main road was covered in loose gravel. Cycle path used to get full of all the loose stones and debris.
It was swept the day after my complaint. (But soon got messed up again.)

It must be the season because there’s a big thread going about this on Cycle Chat right now. I posted: “If you read up about tarmac (yes, yes, I know…) you will realise that local authority highways engineers are paranoiacally obsessed with friction. That’s why they hate a slick surface and will go out and stick gravel all over it. It’s quite a scence getting the tar emulsion mix right, apparently, and can only be done in the right weather.”

Generally surface dressing is usually undertaken after patching is carried out to remedy and existing defects.

They never do though, just dump it straight over the top. Had to laugh saw some council guys ‘fill’ in a pothole with tarmac the other day. Awful job and it hasn’t lasted a week 😥 It’s about time councils were held accountable for the awful road repairs. If you can’t be bothered doing it properly don’t do it at all.

This is a particular grumble of mine. Me and the little lady spent six months travelling in a campervan around Europe, about 15-20 countries in all, and in all but two the roads were perfect billiard-table smooth tarmac. One of the remaining two was Romania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, where much of the traffic is still horse and cart, and the roads are a probably-to-be-expected potholed mess. The other was of course the UK, where the roads were much like Romania’s…

I also get pissed off with our local authority, who proudly claim that the council tax bill is 5% lower than last year. That’s great, but some of that money is supposed to go on maintaining the roads, and they’re an effing mess. How about not lowering the bill, and spending the money on the stuff we’re giving to you to spend it on? Grrr!

Only going to get poorer under the tories

Don’t seem to recall M?o?s?e?s? Ed carving “I will fix the potholes” into his stone monolith.

Kent , they lay a few inches of gravel and put signs 20m/h signs . the cars wash it on the side and the middle .

it is very dangerous for cycling .

Yep, out on Sunday on a nice lane out from Shoreham toward Sundridge where they’ve dumped even more than usual. It was like trying to ride across a pebble beach at times.

Plenty of other local roads have experienced the same recently too.

Had to laugh saw some council guys ‘fill’ in a pothole with tarmac the other day. Awful job and it hasn’t lasted a week It’s about time councils were held accountable for the awful road repairs. If you can’t be bothered doing it properly don’t do it at al

Was it actually the council or was it someone from Amey/Carillion etc that have been contracted to do it by the council?

So basically they’ve used it as a longer term bodge. This is the practical impact of austerity measures.

Funny, I don’t recall any major long-term road resurfacing going on during Tony Blair’s long-term tenancy of No 10, councils have been doing ‘spray’n’pray’ (it lasts longer than a month), for decades.

chambord – Member
Poor road surfaces
Only going to get poorer under the tories

+SNP…..
D&G are spending £2.8m on road repairs atm according to local press. Some of those repairs are diabolical!! Patches end at the edge of the next pot hole, recently resurfaced section are as rough/bumpy as the old surface and that is before the fiasco of the top dressing regime starts 🙄

piedi di formaggio – Member
We had one of these pass through our neck of the woods a couple of years back

There was one patching up the road into Kirroughtree again today, must be on that road on a monthly basis!! I would imagine if the operator does his job properly then the “patch” will last nut around here it is a waste of money.

£116m required according to this report from March; http://www.itv.com/news/border/topic/road-repairs/

Well it was a council van they were in rather than a contractors, but I only passed as they were leaving, so couldn’t bee 100% sure. Still ultimately the council pay and set the requirements so problem lies with them.

It’s a variation on wallpapering over the cracks

The stuff either doesn’t always stick to the old white lines and you end up with holes along the centreline or ridges where it does stick, and it doesn’t last for the years that local authorities say

Carbon frame and 100 inch wheels needed.

That would be Fliston lane Nobby. Knatts valley was the same.

That’s the one. Was gonna ride Knatts tomorrow so think I’ll give it a miss now.

What took the biscuit for me was seeing the council surface dressing the TDF route through Ilkley last night – it was resurfaced (reasonably well) for the TDF last year, then I think they surface dressed it soon after (to wails of anguish from most road users) and now they’ve done it AGAIN when the surface was ABSOLUTELY FINE.

I’ve spent a good 20 minutes trying to find out how/who to complain to about the total waste of taxpayers money. It’s funny how little things like this disenfranchise tax payers more than the really important stuff.

They surface dressed a big chunk of the route for the road nationals next month in Lincolnshire, which seems like really poor timing as it’s not going to have time to settle, it’s my commute route, it wasn’t even bad, they also dressed over a huge section of nice smooth Tarmac that they only laid in February

Bonkers

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/nationalroadchampionships/article/20141022-Route-announced-for-the-2015-British-Cycling-National-Road-Championships-0