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[370abc]

When asked about our poor roads by an American visitor I told him We spent so much time developing the pubs that we neglected the roads.

[Rory]

Roads in Britain are never improved unless you live in the south east/London area, everywhere else is second class and gets crumbs from the table of at all.

You could probably get from Bristol to Bournemouth quicker by bike than vehicle.

[w3526602]

Hi,

I checked how long it would take from Palace Pier in Brighton, to West Croydon Station. Google says one hour ten minutes.  What/where is this M23 thingy they mentioned?

Amazing ... that's exactly what it took me ... in 1958, driving a  1932 Austin 7 with no brakes. It cost me £2 . I wish I could afford one now.  The Bank Holiday traffic slowed me down.

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PS. Austin 7 had ABS ... when you applied the brakes, the front axle moved back a smidgen, thereby slackening the cables. The reverse happened when going backwards. The brakes stopped you like a brick wall ... and your right knee shot back and tried to remove your teeth.  Character building.

[ChrisJC]

Roads in Britain are never improved unless you live in the south east/London area, everywhere else is second class and gets crumbs from the table of at all.

You could probably get from Bristol to Bournemouth quicker by bike than vehicle.

Clearly you've never driven in rural Wales! That's where all the road funding goes.

Chris.

[Noddy]

Look on the bright side of lack of funds for road improvement. There is not enough money to mend all the pot holes in the A roads, there is practically no money to spend on repairing the major B roads, there is no money at all to spend on C roads these will deteriorate until they will only be passable in a 4X4. We are ahead of the curve for driving on country lanes.

[Wittsend]

The money is there - it's just not spent on repairing or making new roads 

If all the money collected from motorists was spent on the roads we wouldn't be having this discussion.

We still call it "Road Tax" to embarrass the government.

 

[AlexB]

In a nutshell, our roads are deemed fit for purpose unless circumstances change that.
In general, that would be something that causes a vast amount more traffic on it (quite possibly new development which could well be made to pay for improvements), or something causes multiple accidents involving serious infury or fatalities.

The truck road network is slightly different, in that there is still an attempt to provide for increases in traffic, but from Political will rather then sustainability. The days of "predict and provide" are, thankfully, long gone.

The English motorways are the safest in Europe (vehicle miles travelled)

"We" would be best spending money on maintenance rather than providing folk with the ability to commute further and further away from home in the same time as before

[Davidss]

Some road spend is on the bits you don't see.
Derbyshire County Council have accepted a Government ring-fenced grant of £4.85 Million to repair the walls supporting the A6 for the ~5 miles between Whatstandwell and Matlock.
The height of these walls are un-noticed unless you are a road engineer, or a footpath walker with an eye for, and appreciation of, these features.

For Genocache, as the road number implies, the A6 was a major long distance road. In this area it is a two lane road (in the UK that's one lane in each direction) and wide enough for the heaviest UK lorries to pass each other. It has a significant number of bends, meaning there are few overtaking opportunities because the required length of clear forward visibility doesn't exist.
I don't recall exactly (I rarely use it), but I suspect this stretch of road has a limit of 50mph, except where lower limits have been applied near junctions. This length of the A6 runs along the valley of the River Derwent, the road being built up to avoid flooding.
The outer face of the retaining walls are roughly dressed stone; I don't know exactly what's behind that, but I suspect the specialist repair will be to inject 'cement' grouting behind the outer wall, to both fill voids left by rainwater washing out the 'fines', and to more firmly lock the stones in place.

Regards.

[Genem]

Look on the bright side of lack of funds for road improvement.

If the Govt do actually follow through on their "FDR" type ideas, a "New Deal" funding programme to get the economy moving, then road building and repairs would be an easy win. Instant jobs with a good geographical spread putting money in peoples pockets that they then spend, keeping other people in work and they in turn spend the money and....at each round paying Taxes ( Income Tax, VAT, Fuel...)back to the Govt. ....economy grows and if you are lucky, a nice steady bit of inflation reduces the value of the original "Debt" at the same time.

The Greens will object - but then they need to be asked what roads the hydrogen powered buses and electric cars will be driving on ? 

[AlexB]

If they were serious, then we would have a social housing programme instead of a series of measures to ensure developers don't lose out. 

[TimV]

I've seen too many interesting roads be 'improved', net result you get to your destination a few minutes quicker. Isn't it a relief to get off those roads onto the back roads - little/no traffic, no caravans, horse boxes, Nissan Micras to slow you up. I enjoy pottering about in my old land rover, but on main roads I am never at the front of the queue, always behind a motor caravan/caravan/horse box/Nissan Micra.

 

[Wittsend]

I enjoyed driving in America (Florida) ... nice wide roads. You can drive in any lane and pass in any lane. You can move along at your own pace. I quite like driving in France and Spain, much less traffic - in the large towns cities you just go with the flow.

Here I live 6½ miles from the centre of Norwich.
½ a mile gets me out of the village onto the main road. Then it's bumper-to-bumper all the way in. The road being blocked by bus and cycle lanes plus dithering idiots whose cars take 20 seconds to restart when the lights go green, meaning 6 fewer cars can't get across the junction.

[andyjb]

Mr Murphy
I can't believe you posted that image 

Ive driven in most areas of this country and there are some good roads and quiet country lanes all over. Whether its the passes of the lake district, the wilds of scotland or the high hedged lanes of devon. I wouldnt swap them for anything.

[Genem]

I've seen too many interesting roads be 'improved',

....particularly annoying when the Forestry "improve" what are otherwise nice "sporting" bits of their tracks...  A good example near here, overgrown to the extent that there were 5-6ft trees in the middle of it, ruts and wash-outs, several miles long. Excellent "Green Road Run" territory....now a wide flat gravel dullness :-(

[w3526602]

but on main roads I am never at the front of the queue, always behind a motor caravan/caravan/horse box/Nissan Micra.

Hi Tim,

When we had a place in France, we used to leave home (coming or going), planning to reach the Tunnel in time to get the dog "vetted", and have a cup of coffee before boarding the first train of the day. This was in my 2286cc Series One ... circa 600 miles door to door, plus the tunnel. It was quicker and cheaper than taking the ferry.

I would often settle in behind an HGV for a few miles ... it sort of took the "urgency" out of my right foot. After a spell, I'd pass Yorkie, settle in behind another HGV.

Coming home, it was a joy to drive North up through France after midnight, scarcely saw another set of headlamps ... until you met the convoy off the last ferry. They seemed to dislike the close together headlamps on my Landie ... give me a demonstration of their many roof-mounted NIGHT SUNS ... truck after truck after truck. How many HGVs can a ferry carry? I wish I'd had an HGV to hide behind.

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