Walk this way

I've had broken springs in my car, partially due to the shocking state of the roads I think.

It’s simple. Money!!!

Everything is abyearly budget everywhere you look

So rather than do a whole repair now and save money over the long term, it's always a cheaper patch

It's completely and utterly without common sense

Council's don't seem to care either nobody overlooks their work. No pride in their towns but that's probably because they don't live in the towns they represent.

I broke my arm because of tripping over uneven paving stones; this is due more of a 'gentrification' of a town centre with slabs, stones and cobbles and the culprits are red ants who burrow into the sand and cause the uneven-ness.

Arm healed well; I watch very carefully where I walk and realize the pavements are a terrible mess,

I was only saying the same to my OH today. A private company is installing fibre broadband everywhere in our area. All the pavements are dug up and ugly black tarmac strips all along the middle of them is how it is left. It looks awful and is often done unevenly with bits sitting proud of the paving. The whole area is looking quite unsightly now.

The pavements in my street have been dug up for both new street lighting and fibre broadband. They look terrible now, all stripey and uneven. Potholes and patched up pavements seem to be a national complaint.

eazybee

I broke my arm because of tripping over uneven paving stones; this is due more of a 'gentrification' of a town centre with slabs, stones and cobbles and the culprits are red ants who burrow into the sand and cause the uneven-ness.

Arm healed well; I watch very carefully where I walk and realize the pavements are a terrible mess,

I tripped and twisted my ankle badly eighteen months ago and it was painful for ages. One ankle is still larger than the other even now.

Bad pavements are a problem here as there is a lot of housing development going on and so the pavements are lifted all the time to update the utilities. Also heavy trucks park on the pavement whilst waiting to unload, breaking the slabs and moving the kerbs.
The potholes in the roads are a cause of a lot of punctures according to the motoring organisations.

In my area, we could also do with grit bins for winter weather. The roads are carefully salted but not the pavements.

What would help is if the utility companies worked and communicated with each other - along with the local authorities. That way one week the gas company wouldnt do lots of work to then have it all ripped up a couple of weeks later by the water company, and so on etc.

They can find oodles of money for the HS2 white elephant but make massive cuts in local authority grants so we get very poor public services like pavement repairs. Tories don't care.

Spinnaker

What would help is if the utility companies worked and communicated with each other - along with the local authorities. That way one week the gas company wouldnt do lots of work to then have it all ripped up a couple of weeks later by the water company, and so on etc.

Yeah, I def second that, it’s real unnecessary if they, the Council got their act together.

You too ? Ours are pretty disgusting as well. They repair ruts by shoving a bit of tar down and the next time there is a storm it opens right up again.

Spinnaker

What would help is if the utility companies worked and communicated with each other - along with the local authorities. That way one week the gas company wouldnt do lots of work to then have it all ripped up a couple of weeks later by the water company, and so on etc.

They can't do that, it would mean communicating with other service providers and seemingly it is impossible! Far easier to wait until one utility has finished, patched up and left before digging it all up again!

I know the black asphalt looks unsightly but, being partially sighted, I give thanks for it. No uneven paving slabs to trip over. By the time I’ve dodged people with their eyes glued on their phones, electric scooters, cyclists and robots I feel as though I’m taking my life in my hands just to go to the local shop.

This is bone of contention with me also Silverspoon.
The barriers snd diversions along the roads are driving me mad especially on school pick up days.
The pot holes are getting worse and filled in , only to reappear few weeks later.
I'm on a road trip Brittney France and have yet to spot a pot hole or a line of black tarmac snaking around.

Our 2023 council tax in UK has rose considerably.

The pot holes here are ridiculous. I hit one - knew about it, but it’s in an unavoidable place due to parked cars, at very low speed near DD2s. Blew a tyre (£140) buckled the wheel (£120 to straighten) then the wheel bearing went on the same wheel -(£400+). The buckled wheel (didn’t affect the handling) forced the tracking out, which resulted in needing a new set of tyres (£560) after 10 months!
The pothole is still there, so I now take a different route!
I think most of the residents there would welcome any sort of repair, no matter how unsightly.

Sorry - just realized the thread is about walking. When I’m out on uneven pavements, I walk in a silly way. Can’t really describe it, but I pick my feet up in an exaggerated way and plant them down, rather than just skimming the surface, as I would indoors.
I suspect I look a bit odd, but better than tripping!

Our roads are never salted, only the main roads, however, I noticed that the paths at the Coucil office are gritted, looking after each other!!

GagaJo

I've had broken springs in my car, partially due to the shocking state of the roads I think.

It's all the speed bumps that do for ours.

Some are gentle and they do work, but some, the cheaper ones, are vicious.

This is quite irrelevant, but the ‘walk this way’ made me think of a very dear friend who used to say ‘Walk this way, and we’ll both be arrested!’

Road and pavements are both dire. I just remember when I was a child back in the 60s, the council would come and resurface the road outside my grandmother’s house, then a few weeks later, the gas board would come and dig holes and trenches, then fill them in, leaving an uneven surface all over again.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

I remember the old steam rollers going up the road. Those roads were good and they knew how to build them then. I don’t think they have a clue now.

nanna8

I remember the old steam rollers going up the road. Those roads were good and they knew how to build them then. I don’t think they have a clue now.

And the lovely smell of the hot tar