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Petition calls for end to road surface dressing due to danger loose gravel poses to cyclists

Fresh petition launched - but Cycling UK says it isn't aware of any recent increase in the practice...

A fresh petition has been launched highlighting the danger posed to cyclists by so-called ‘scraping’ – the practice by some local authorities of dressing road surfaces with gravel chippings, rather than resurfacing them. The charity Cycling UK, however, says it is unaware of any increase in its use, but has asked cyclists to let them know if that has happened in their own areas.

The petition was launched by Danny Shafrir on the website 38 degrees, where he wrote:

Over the last few months and weeks, local roads and lanes around the country have been scraped instead of resurfaced.

The government claims, it is more cost-effective way to maintaining roads. This policy has created highly dangerous conditions for thousands of cyclists who uses these roads and lanes, whether commuting to work, leisure rides or staying fit.

The loose gravely surface is highly slippery and damn right dangerous, especially in rain, during descents and while turning.

How is this policy compatible with policies such as, cycle to work, reducing air pollution, safe space for cycling?

This could lead most cyclists on to using main roads with fast moving traffic or avoid riding all together. This policy must be reversed!

At the time of writing, the petition has attracted almost 650 signatures. One cyclist who signed it, Thomas C, said: "This has happened on a few roads near where I live recently, and I find myself avoiding them for a few months.

"It's impossible to ride on for the reasons already provided, and with traffic you can get kicked up gravel in the face.

"Even in a car / vehicle it's much harder to drive on, never mind the damage it does to your vehicle.

"All the roads that I know have been 'fixed' with this method seem to end up being re-done within a year anyway.

"It's not a good solution in any book but penny-pinching," he added.

But Sam Jones, campaigns coordinator at Cycling UK, said it had not noticed and increase in the practice and asked cyclists to let the charity know of any increase in scraping in their area.

He told road.cc: “Cycling UK is not aware of a sudden widespread policy for local authorities to ‘scrape’ their roads rather than resurface them, and would be interested to hear from their wider cycling community if this is the case.

“Even if it is not a countrywide problem, scraping over road surfacing is indicative of a wider problem which the Government is failing to address.

“The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates it will take £12 billion to fix our local road networks. The Government so far has only allocated £6 billion over the next five years, while at the same time is investing £15 billion to gold plate our A-roads and motorways.

“It’s therefore hardly any surprise the roads most people, whether driving or cycling, use the most are in such a sorry state of repair.”

He added: “Cycling UK will be urging the new Ministers in the Department for Transport to rethink and reallocate their current funding from highways to local networks, and in the meantime would urge everyone to report any road defects they encounter via our Fill That Hole website and app.”

A similar petition launched on the UK Government website in 2014 was signed by 14,150 people.

> Petition against surface dressing gets 10,000+ signatures

While that was well below the 100,000 needed to stand a chance of the issue being debated on Parliament, it was above the 10,000 threshold that requires a response from the government.

Replying to that petition, the Department for Transport said:

This Government takes the issue of road safety and the condition of the road network very seriously …

There are many types of materials to resurface the highway network.

This type of dressing will seal the old road surface, preventing the ingress of water which causes deterioration of the road surface, and the road matrix and so reducing the risk of wider scale deterioration and road failure.

When designed and laid properly they pose no additional risks.

On many roads where traffic flow are not excessively high, surface dressings have been shown to be both cost-effective and sustainable.

The Highways Agency, responsible for the motorway and trunk road network, do not routinely use this type of dressing due to the high traffic flows.

For local roads, which are the statutory responsibility of local highway authorities, it is for each individual authority to decide on the most suitable materials to be used for resurfacing and repair works, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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25 comments

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
0 likes

On some of my rides in Oxforshire I have encountered the "Dragon Patcher", fixing defects on little roads.  It does seem to make some of the bad roads a little better.  But because of getting tar and dressing on my tyres it did make it sound like riding through rice krispies for ages.

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Argus Tuft | 4 years ago
0 likes

What about riding to the prevailing conditions?

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Sniffer replied to Argus Tuft | 4 years ago
1 like

Argus Tuft wrote:

What about riding to the prevailing conditions?

The prevailing conditions now, or two years ago when this article was written?

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ant8 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Last year motorcycling throuh france on minor roads on my way to italy i encountered road surfacing like this. It seemed like a whole region was beeing resurfaced as i spent nearly the whole day on and off roads with this surface. Being on 2 wheels it wasn't enjoyable as i was worried i would lose grip.

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andsaw | 6 years ago
1 like

Last time i went on same surface within ten seconds the stones stuck to my tyres and shattered my mud gaurds, hate them, at least they cover the drains by me but again dont fill potholes and when cars go over newly laid it causes ripples that seem to increase over time, its just false economy.

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kitsunegari | 6 years ago
1 like

This is, as far as I can tell, the only method of road repair or dressing used in Cambridge.

And it's fucking dangerous.

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PaulBox | 6 years ago
0 likes

I understand why councils do it, it's the cheapest option, but when they do it to what was previously a really good surface it pisses me off big time.

The main issues as far as I'm concerned are:

  1. Not filling in the potholes before hand
  2. The loose gravel blocking drainage / water run offs
  3. The crap that's left in the "cycle lanes" after the cars have swept everything off the rest of the road
  4. The shit surface after the chippings start breaking away
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madcarew | 6 years ago
2 likes

Oh FFS. It's part of the road environment. Use another road, walk, learn to ride on gravel, whatever. Just don't whinge about it.

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SingleSpeed | 6 years ago
2 likes

I thought it was the fashion to be riding gravel bikes.

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Awavey replied to SingleSpeed | 6 years ago
0 likes
SingleSpeed wrote:

I thought it was the fashion to be riding gravel bikes.

The bikes cope, it's the human on the bike,as always, that gets put at risk

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drosco | 6 years ago
1 like

Lots of it where I live, but beyond being pretty coarse to cycle on compared to smooth tarmac, I've never once had any issues linked to safety because of it and I ride on it every day.

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Spokesperson | 6 years ago
5 likes

Guys, and I expect you are guys who are talking this macho thing about growing some etc... could I point out that if you are a 45kg woman, or an even slighter child, any gravel, bumps and potholes are a definite danger. I dread meeting up with any gravel as it is very difficult to stay on board. I have been severely injured several times because of gravel and potholes. Imagine how difficult it would be for a young cyclist in those circumstances?

If you want to encourage more people, especially women and children, to cycle wherever and whenever they want, which I am sure you do, why not press for the best conditions that suit everybody?

Gravel is s&*t.

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P3t3 replied to Spokesperson | 6 years ago
0 likes
Spokesperson wrote:

.. could I point out that if you are a 45kg woman, or an even slighter child, any gravel, bumps and potholes are a definite danger. I dread meeting up with any gravel as it is very difficult to stay on board.

Gravel is s&*t.

Eh?

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Yorkshire wallet replied to Spokesperson | 6 years ago
0 likes

Spokesperson wrote:

 I have been severely injured several times because of gravel and potholes.

Seriously? several times?

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pedroboy | 6 years ago
5 likes

Loads of areas done like this on Wirral. I was brought off my bike. A piece of gravel with tar on it stuck to tyre and got lodged in small space under fork. I was nearly tipped over handlebars but came off. Also they didn't sweep up excess in gutters and junctions. Highly dangerous for cyclists. Council very slow to respond. Roads still uneven after this rubbish treatment. False economy.

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Saratoga | 6 years ago
5 likes

Last year my council completely stripped and resurfaced one road, leaving it lovely and smooth with a great friction surface. Then less than two months later they surface dressed it! And they made a mess of that too leaving bumps and ripples in the surface. You couldn't make this stuff up.

If done right, surface dressing isn't too bad. The trouble is the councils often don't seem to do it right: they don't fix the flaws in the base first, so the old pot holes just reappear within months; they don't sweep up the loose gravel either. When the Highways Agency (or whatever they're called this week) do surface dressing on major roads, they manage a much better job.

I don't like cycling on newly surface dressed roads like most people. I don't like riding a motorbike on them either. And I certainly don't like being hit by flying stones every time someone drives past doing 40+ mph.

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Awavey | 6 years ago
1 like

The issue is there seems to be two ways of doing it, the proper way,where the chippings do exactly what they are supposed to and are fine laid down, no excess and cause no issue,often applied to national speed limit roads, and then there's the quick & dirty way of doing it often on rural b roads or 30limit country roads, where they the chippings are so loosely attached to the tar you get visible wheel ruts forming and within a year the road will show bald patches of tar as all the chippings are in the verges,which are lethal when icy, and all the holes they didn't fill in the first time will have got bigger, leave it to you to work out which process of road chippings the average cyclist encounters most often.

Certainly I notice the loosely done stuff knocks a measurable speed off my rides,its like riding on a gravel drive, and requires extra wattage to push through vs a decent tarmac'd surface , I bet TT'ers notice it more

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WillRod | 6 years ago
4 likes

They didn't bother filling in the potholes outside my house before they chipped it. The pothole is still there and will likely become a massive crevasse this winter if we get enough freezing and thawing.

Also, most don't stick to 20mph even when passing pedestrians. Really stings when you get showered by a passing lorry doing a good 30mph on gravel.

The main problem I have with it is with stone chips on the paintwork and tar. It's not just cosmetic damage, because it will eventually start corroding parts.

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P3t3 | 6 years ago
4 likes

Is there an anti-sign option for this nonsense?
Chipsealing is cheap and effective way to maintain the integrity of the road and restore skid resistance​. Councils are comming round to doing this again since they took maintenance holidays on lots of roads and the water got into​the base courses and wrecked them. Of course they've left it too long in a lot of cases but that's just the nature of dealing with big budget cuts. If done right the road is only covered in gravel for a short while then it makes​ a really good surface. If people think there is the money for full resurfacing every time then they are in lala land. Besides, chipsealing is a preventative maintenance and resurfacing is a major rebuild used when the road completely fails. Stop moaning.

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BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
3 likes

It IS dangerous because the surface afterwards is very uneven and varies as to how well the dressing takes hold. It's hard to even go down one 8% hill at anything more than 20mph due to how badly uneven and bumpy the surface is because they chose to use this method and it's worse than it was before by a long, long way. not only that but it doesn't last, it cracks/erodes away quickly by comparison to a surface done properly.

Having spoken to road engineers they will tell you it is a false economy but then councils and indeed many contractors are so micky poor/thick many aren't capable of understanding nor have the ability to do a good job of it in any case.

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mikecassie | 6 years ago
1 like

"All the roads that I know have been 'fixed' with this method seem to end up being re-done within a year anyway." 

What a load of tosh!  If it was being done every year then the councils wouldn't do it...  The method has been used for years and it's not suddenly any more dangerous.  As mentioned above, ride in the tracks made by our fellow road users and reduce the brave pill dosage for the corners.  

I always wear glasses, clear lenses for dull, wet (scottish) weather and tinted for the 2 days of summer we get here.  The reason is for eye protection, I've been struck on the face by a wee stone pinged up from the wheels of a Lorry so I won't risk it.  

I would like other road users to stick to the advised speed limit tho, even in my car the pebble dashing it gets from other motorists brings tears to my eyes.

Sometimes people make a petition for the smallest of reasons.  But that's only my opinion, and that's all it is. 

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handlebarcam | 6 years ago
3 likes

Those "Max speed 20" signs are a joke. Literally nobody these days has the patience to stick to 20 mph. A few years ago several miles of my commute were redressed with loose chippings, and even the local vicar overtook me doing about 30.

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Accessibility f... | 6 years ago
4 likes

Oh for God's sake, this method has been used for decades and isn't remotely dangerous.  If a road is freshly dressed then just slow down.  Ride where the cars have left tyre tracks.  Slow down on corners.  Watch for gravel at junctions.

The only issue is that some authorities don't adequately sweep up the gravel that gets deposited at the edge of the carriageway, but even that isn't an issue anywhere other than junctions, where again, people should slow down.  If you report such instances on the council's website, usually they clear it up within a week or so.

I have more problems riding along C-roads through farms and fields, where lack of cleaning means there's a nice grass verge in the centre of the lane, than I do with road dressings.

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CyclePsycho replied to Accessibility for all | 6 years ago
1 like

Peowpeowpeowlasers wrote:

Oh for God's sake, this method has been used for decades and isn't remotely dangerous.

The problem is not everyone takes heed of the speed limit and still drive at 60mph, incidentially I got a cracked windscreen only last week due to a motocyclist not slowing doan and kicking up loose chippings in Galway, these roads are popular with walkers and cyclists who don't have that protective barrier when idiots take no notice of the reduced speed.

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Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
5 likes

The practice is alive and well in North Yorkshire. Local roads done weeks ago. It's more the annoyance of riding in a gravel pit at the road edges that annoy me.  Don't forget to wear glasses as well or it'll chippings to the face.

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