Now I live and drive around Tamworth and Staffordshire and whilst we are blighted we have no where near the problems of Liverpool and Manchester, but that doesn't matter unless you are in Liverpool or Manchester.
So the below is a list of things I know or have learnt about potholes.
Staffordshire county council have already purchased a number or Pothole Zapping machines which to me are awesome, (I have a thing for machinery mounted on a lorry chassis I think its the combination of tools and transportation)
Its actually quite impressive. Not only that but the Conservatives have an election pledge of a further £3m to tackle the potholes of Staffordshire in 2017.
How does the county know where to repair? there are 2 options, survey the thousands of miles of highway in Staffordshire or there is reliance on local people to report them. I know some people are very good at this and report them regularly, but there are many who don't. for example Two gates traffic lights have been reported.
There is clearly and issue with potholes and we all know it. But from the documents I have seen not many of us are reporting them, I have read through the 34 pages of pothole defects reported last week by residents in Staffordshire and this has made interesting reading. Last week the county council only received 13 reports of defects to road surface in Tamworth, and these reports related to only 4 problems. we have to start reporting them. I may not be a county councillor at the moment but I think I have a duty to make sure the county know they have to come to Tamworth and sort out our roads.
Right now for some of my knowledge about potholes,
When I was a county councillor 2009-13, there had been a problem with St Georges Way for years and promises were not delivered, I was elected and immediately raising this with the local description of the road as the "surface of the moon". For following year Glascote road was to be resurfaced as a county councillor I managed to negotiate whilst the plant was in the area to get St Georges Way resurfaced, I drove up there the other day and with the exception of a little stretching/cracking at one point its holding up very well. I proud I was able to deliver that little piece of work albeit part pf the job.Last week I got into a conversation about the standard of repair work. The person I was speaking to commented he saw some workers run into a gap in the traffic, scrape out a pothole, run into the next gap to pour in tarmac and then use the next gap to pack it down meaning the hole would repair in the weeks to follow. Now my knowledge is not at expert level but my understanding is the county council have a duty to remove danger and so may well perform the style of repair above BUT this is a temporary repair until a patch can be dug out and rebuilt permanently. What I don't know is the turn around of permanent repairs.
Whilst talking about roads, it would be remiss of me not to mention the very quick surface dressing that has been added increasingly over the last 2 decades, this is where a tar is spread over the road followed by chippings and then a roller quickly runs over it, you know the loose stuff that we all hate. I have campaigned in the passed about this but I have since been told why its used. Firstly it apparently seals cracks in the road surface below. Secondly this surface is expected to last 3-5 years and can be done enough times to last 15 years for the same cost as resurfacing which lasts 10 years. So whether I like the use of this surface or not I can at least understand the reasons behind the use of this.
To conclude, Keep up the good work and report the potholes, lets not assume someone else has.
Well Done to those who report Potholes regularly are doing their bit regularly. I'm certainly going make more of an effort not I've seen those figures because it seems not enough people are.
Report a Pothole online
Oh because it's election time and I'm a politician I have to include an imprint.
Promoted by Michael Oates on behalf of Jeremy Oates, Tamworth Conservatives, The White House, 93 Lichfield St, Tamworth B79 7QF.
