Early in 2009 I contacted the Bucks County Council's Highways Agency twice during a six month period to register a dangerous pothole near where I live in Beaconsfield, Bucks. Nothing happened.
In November 2009 I registered a number of potholes in Wellington Road on Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, Bucks, which is where I work for Hazlemere Window Company. Nothing happened.
Then the snow and ice came, and by the end of January 2010 in these two roads alone the potholes had enlarged, deepened, and like all over the UK, new potholes sprang up everywhere.
This deteriorating state of our roads (I can really only speak about South Bucks where I live and work where I have first hand knowledge and experience of the current dreadful state of the road network) must surely be of serious concern to all vehicle drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. Travelling to work in High Wycombe is now more like an adventure ride with motorists constantly swerving round potholes, so as to try to protect their tyres, wheel rims and suspensions, which occasionally results in them closely missing other oncoming vehicles.
I recently had to have a rear suspension linkage repaired on my car, so I am very well aware of the damage, time and inconvenience un-repaired potholes can cause. Why do Council Tax payers put up with the state of our roads? I just do not understand why more drivers do not complain. Surely if enough Council Tax payers made legitimate complaints, the authorities would have to make repairing our roads more of a priority?
Thankfully, the pothole I reported in Beaconsfield for a 3rd time earlier this year has now been repaired. However, despite yet again recently reporting the worsening state of Wellington Road in Cressex nothing has yet been done, and the road is just getting worse and worse. Given all the learners drivers in the region drive up and down this road constantly as the test centre is at the end of the road, you would have thought the Highways Agency would want not want learner drivers taking their test not to have to negotiate multiple potholes that remind me of a Somme battlefield!
When I did report the deteriorating road condition and the appearance of several new potholes to Bucks Highways Agency, the reply I received was that they had no money left to re-surface the road! They did say they would send someone at some point to have a look, but stressed they had no budget, and would only effect a repair if the pot hole was small and deep, as apparently wide pot holes present no danger as vehicles can navigate them safely they say! No wonder I have not seen anyone repairing potholes recently!
I asked about road safety, and if it would help if I wrote to my local MP to help secure Bucks Highways Agency more funding for vital repairs. Apparently not it seemed! Surely public safety and maintaining our roads should come before say cutting the grass on council owned fields or repainting building and fences etc.?
It seems to me that our UK roads will continue to crumble until someone in authority provides the Highways Agency with more funding and empowers them to systematically repair all the network. If we all now report all the potholes in the roads where we live and work, hopefully the authorities would realise the scale of the problem before it is too late, as potholes can cause road accidents and even deaths. When I was young road safety was taught in schools. Maybe it should also be taught to Council County and Government Transportation Chiefs who hold the purse strings and have the means to address the growing potholes crisis. Surely prevention is better than cure?
