State of the roads ..... complaint time!

The problem extends to the South of the UK as well. OK, freeze thaw plays havoc with our road surfaces every year but very little efforts is made to repaid roads quickly. Delays only worsen the conditions because cars soon break down any loose surface which may exist.

Perhaps we need a 'Smooth Road Guide' for us roadies to plot new routes! Seriously, that could be a great idea!

I have to admit that some of the repairs I have seen recently around South Manchester have been done quite well. They started popping up in May and although there is by no means enough repairs or any complete resurfacing being done the repairs are actual tarmac with nice neat square corners and a slick black edging.
Unfortunately the general condition of roads is going down too quickly for the repairs to keep up with so next winter could be a crunch point.
I think it is mainly county councils with miles of country lanes to repair that are stretched to making these chipping redressings. The one think the letter above does not point out is that roads that have been treated with gravel and tar end up in a worse condition than they started off with within a year. They are a false economy and need to be opposed.

Don't know this for fact, but it seems to stack up for me! Been told that the thinking, if you can call it that, is hot weather arrives, tarmac softens, council dumps shed load of gravel on it and then the weight of passing cars etc. compresses the gravel into the heat softened tarmac....I think they call it redressing. Guess it's the cheapest way for them to do it

It's not just the roads either. I commute into Wolverhampton along a railway walk (cyclists allowed) and recently part of it was resurfaced with loose gravel making it virtually unrideable. Utter idiots!

https://sites.google.com/site/familyfriendlycycling/south-staffordshire-...

It's not just a bad surface for us cyclists. There is a real danger of pedestrian injuries, stone chips to car's and hitting a patch of gravel (especially on a bend) on a motorbike is just deadly. And to add further insult they don't even fill the potholes beforehand.

A previously lovely section of Ranmore Common Road on the North Downs has just had this done. There are still road works signs up so I don't know if that's it or they're going to do more to improve it.

If it's going to stay like that it's a crying shame, for the reasons you so clearly set out. But also this area has had a boost from the Olympics and more cyclists are coming to enjoy it, which is surely a good thing. It's a shame if short-sighted, cheapskate road-maintenance puts them off when they go further afield.