Britain’s Bumpiest Road Named And Shamed
A badly potholed road in Leeds has been named the worst in Britain in a survey by Continental Tyres.
Station Road in Leeds is described as a giant crater around a sunken grate. It is deeper than the maximum height of a speed hump and is posing a risk to cars and cyclists, sparking numerous complaints from residents and reports to the local Council.
The road is one of 10 highlighted as the most potholed or badly maintained in the UK, by the Continental Tyres research.
Others to make the list include Castle Street in Renfrewshire which is covered with several hundred metres of deep holes and lumps. Mill Avenue in Hillingdon, Middlesex features dangerous potholes up to half a metre wide; and Scotforth Road in Lancaster has potholes and sunken manhole covers which are causing cyclists to swerve into oncoming traffic.
According to a recent Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey, there are currently over 1 million potholes across the country.
But worryingly there is a shortfall in the budgets required to fix them to the tune of over £1 billion and an 11 year backlog of maintenance work.
Top 10
1) Station Road, Leeds
2) Castle Street, Renfrewshire
3) Mill Avenue, Hillingdon
4) Waldegrave Road, Richmond
5) Grove Park Terrace, Hounslow
6) Gourock Street, Glasgow
7) Scotforth Road, Lancaster
8) Skid Hill Lane, Surrey
9) Harrison Lane, Kirklees
10) Owen Road, Lancaster
Since January 2008 alone, 4,217 new hazards have been reported to pothole campaigning site, FillThatHole.org.uk.
Although many of these roads are unsightly, the biggest cause for concern is the damage that potholes and broken road surfaces can cause to cars and tyres, and the danger they pose to both the motorists and cyclists that encounter them.
According to Warranty Direct, Britain’s badly maintained roads are costing drivers an average of £2.8 million a year in vehicle repairs.
A 2003 report by the British Tyre Manufacturers Association (BTMA) showed that the second biggest cause for removing tyres before they wore out was impact damage, while Continental Tyres has seen the volume of tyres returned due to impact damage increase by 60% since 2001.
Roger Sanders, technical expert at Continental Tyres, says that it is vital motorists slow down when driving in areas where the road surface is obviously deteriorating to give them time to avoid potholes or lessen the effects of an impact.
“Road conditions have a huge effect on the performance and safety of tyres. Impact with pothole edges or sunken grates can cause severe tyre damage which could lead to dangerous blow-outs on the road," he warns
Anthony Cartmell, the developer of FillThatHole.org.uk, says that this report highlights just how many councils are struggling to maintain the local roads.
“The FillThatHole.org.uk web site is currently receiving around 20 new reports of hazards per day, and has gathered more than 13,000 hazard reports since it was started last year.”
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