RAT RUN 2018 - Many of you will have been inconvenienced by the one way system along Diplocks Way. This means having to use an alternative route to avoid being snarled in traffic in the High Street, or having to drive along the A22 north, down to the next roundabout - and then queue for quite a time to exit into an overcrowded B road. Nobody likes using this rat-run with all the speed bumps. It's a relatively new road and it is already potholed along its length.

RAC 19 MARCH 2024 - ROADS IN THE UK ARE AT BREAKING POINT AT REPAIR BILLS HIT RECORD HIGH

Roads in England and Wales are at ‘breaking point’ according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) due to potholes.
The AIA Alarm Survey has found that more than half of the local road network in England and Wales could fail in the next 15 years as the amount needed to fix the backlog of repairs reaches a record high of £16.3 billion.

Further analysis of the data found that local authorities are expected to fix more than two million potholes in the current financial year.

This is an increase of 43% compared to the previous 12 months.

It is also the highest total since 2015-16 – where around 2.2 million potholes were fixed in England and Wales.

Currently, only 47% of local roads are in ‘good structural condition’ and over 107,000 miles of local roads have less than 15 years’ structural life left in them.

Rick Green, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, which commissions the ALARM survey, said: “Local authorities have a bit more money to spend this year but the impact of rising costs due to inflation means they have actually been able to do less with it.

“Couple this with the effects of the extreme weather we are increasingly facing, and the result is that the rate at which local roads are suffering is accelerating towards breaking point.

“There’s still a mountain to climb when it comes to fixing our local roads and while it’s great that English local authorities should be getting more money from the Government through its Network North funding, it’s clearly not going to be enough to halt the decline.”

Green continued: “The Transport Secretary (Mark Harper, appointed Secretary of State for Transport on 25 October 2022, elected Conservative MP for the Forest of Dean in May 2005. Previously serving as Chief Whip [Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury] from May 2015 until 14 July 2016 and Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform from May 2010 until September 2012. He served as Minister for Immigration from September 2012 until February 2014 and as Minister for Disabled People from July 2014 until May 2015. What qualifications does he have to be Trasport Secretary, other than just political musical chairs?) was quoted as saying that the additional £8.3 billion over 11 years is enough to resurface 5,000 miles of local roads. This sounds like a lot, but not when you consider that there are already more than 34,000 miles identified as structurally poor, with less than five years’ life remaining.

“We need to get to the point where local authority highway engineers can plan and proactively carry out repairs and preventative works in the most timely and efficient way to the greatest benefit of all road users – rather than just having enough money to address immediate and urgent needs.”

Following the release of the report, RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “The findings from this report send the clearest signal yet to the Government of the critical state of so many of the roads used by millions every day.

“By the Government’s own admission, the extra £8.3bn from the cancelled parts of HS2 is only sufficient to resurface around 5,000 miles of road, which is sadly just 3% of all council-mismanaged roads in England. With this report showing an estimated 107,000 miles of roads are fast reaching the end of their lives, the scale of the problem now facing councils is truly gargantuan.

“The fact government data shows road maintenance is actually declining at a time when the precise opposite is needed, is even further evidence that councils don’t have the funding they need to look after these most important assets.

“The status quo is not sustainable. The longer the Government fails to grasp this reality, the bigger the eventual cost to the public purse.

“Only a commitment to introducing ring-fenced roads funding for councils will get them out of this dire mess. Without it, our roads will only get worse.”

To help highways authorities understand where the problems on their networks are, the RAC has partnered with technology company Metricell which has developed a free mobile app that uses AI to automatically identify road defects via smartphone cameras.

After downloading the app, all users have to do is mount their phone safely in a cradle and set it to film the roads as they drive. The results are fed into a national map on the RAC and Stan websites showing the health status of the UK’s roads as either red, amber, or green. The app can also be used to submit photos of potholes and other surface defects.

BREACH OF CONTRACT

Transport is the life blood of any nation. According to our Government website, a modern road network helps traffic move around the country more easily and is essential for economic growth. The present Conservative Government claim to have set out a long-term funding programme to create smooth, smart and sustainable roads. They say that their aim is to ensure that highways work is properly managed.

The Conservatives are saying one thing and doing another. The proof is in the pudding. Take a drive around your area and count the potholes. Note where they are and watch motorists dance around trying to miss the really bad holes in our roads.

Why are we still being charged Road Tax, when it is clear that the Tory Government under Theresa May, Boris Johnson and now Rishi Sunack are not conducting themselves in a manner fit to continue running the country. We'd be better off with Laurel and Hardy.

Take a look at these pictures, and maybe take a few of your own - being careful not to stand in any roads or cause inconvenience to other road users. Why not write to your MP, or the shadow government. Ask for some explanation as to where all of our money is going. Do we really need more nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers? Or, do we need decent roads for our everyday journeys to work and for all of those delivery drivers trying to get goods moving around the country.

POLITICS - If the state of an economy can be measured by the condition of the country's roads, we and neck high in a slurry pit of cow pats. Of course that is true, as anyone looking at our National Debt can see. But how did it get so bad? Where has all our income tax gone? Where has our Road Fund License money gone? Who is taking our money and spending it on other things we do not need. Is our Government corrupt or simply inept?

LIFE THREATENING

It's a blooming miracle that there are not more accidents. Every time you swerve to avoid damaging your suspension, you are making a maneuver that could lead to trouble. if you don't take avoiding action, then you will be damaging your tyres as they impact the sharp lip of these tarmac craters. That may not puncture your tyre right away, but with every similar encounter the construction of your rubber interface with our flexible road surfaces is weakened. Eventually, the carcass will give way and you will not be able to pinpoint the cause.

What happens if your tyre blows and cause your vehicle to swerve and hit a pedestrian or cyclist. How will you feel if you run over a child or pregnant woman, or a pensioner who is on their way back from the shops - expecting a safe return home.

You will be the one feeling bad or being prosecuted - not the state. It should be the other way around. The State should be prosecuted for negligence and in some cases: murder.

WEALDEN MP

Our MP at the moment is Nusrat Ghani. It cannot be that she does not know about the mess our roads are in, but why take a chance. Write to Ms Ghani to get her on the record so that she is forced to do something about our appalling highways.

It is not just our roads. If any government allows such basic facilities as a road surface to deteriorate to the point where they are dangerous, what else are they not mending or tending to with due diligence.

We suspect that potholes are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of taking money for a service and then using that money for something else - all the while borrowing to underpin an aura that everything is okay in Blighty. It is not. You can see it for yourself on this page from a sample of photographs that were taken on one short trip from Hailsham in 2018. That was after noticing that potholes have not been repaired, but are much worse - all except one in Herstmonceux village - on a roundabout just before/after a school (2018).

FAST FORWARD TO 2023 - Hailsham is now much worse, with the bridge from the high street an absolute disgrace, and the roads leading to and from the roundabout below, literally, death (serious accident) traps waiting to happen. Why Sussex police are not prosecuting East Sussex County and Wealden District Councils, would be something of a mystery, except - and as you probably know, they are paid by Wealden - hence are not impartial. More the opposite, down right indebted to the corrupt civil servants that hide behind closed doors, and rape you financially for rates far in excess of what any honest council would charge. This is a picture taken in March 2023 on the A271 as you exit Herstmonceux village, down Death Hill, heading toward Suicide Junction on the right (Silver car).

A pothole in Church Road, Herstmonceux, in a very dangerous location, when turning left onto the A271, heading towards the village.

THE OTHER SIDE - In case you did not know it, a rat-run is only popular because the road planners have got their sums wrong and not made the main roads well enough, or well planned enough to service local traffic. In this picture we see the other side of the give-way sign - and yes, sure enough there are potholes on the other side of the road. How come? Surely, East Sussex County Council have a schedule of works to repair holes like this as soon as they appear. You'd think so, but that would involve being efficient and spending money where it is supposed to be spent. Wealden are out borrowing money to buy land in Hailsham town centre - in the process asking the rate payer to fund the interest payments. What then of ESCC. Are they just as irresponsible? no wonder our Council Tax is one of the highest in the country.

ROADS - Potholes in roads are not only dangerous, but also soak up energy with every bump that hinders progress. Pothole Politics is the name for policies that fail to address climate change (sustainable society) issues, but may apply to our pathetic record on adapting to meet the challenges ahead. How can we aim to better ourselves if we cannot even maintain the roads we have.

REPAIRED ONCE ALREADY - Not a bad blend in that one, pity it didn't last. This wear and tear may do better with a stronger repair compound. Who monitors the quality of the tarmac we use on our roads. Should not high traffic areas have a different mix to cope without constant repair after repair. Is there not a high speed repair machine? We certainly need one.

Map of the Wealden District showing the A21 and A22 as the main arteries for traffic. All roads in this district are is dire need of a re-vamp if we are to achieve a sustainable economy.

WATER SUPPLY - FOOD TO LIVE - HOUSING FOR SECURITY - ENERGY FOR LIFE

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A TRANSPORT SYSTEM - INDUSTRY & MINING - EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT

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HEALTH CARE - POLICING - FIRE FIGHTING - COMMUNICATIONS - DEFENSE

ROAD LINKS

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/state-of-the-roads/potholes-in-the-uk-at-a-breaking-point/

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/road-network-and-traffic

FOUNDATION - Thomas Jefferson often referred to the term 'good government.' In his opinion, a Government ought to be judged by how well it meets its legitimate objectives. "Legitimate," being the operative word.

"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread is has earned. This is the sum of good government. "

From the author of the Declaration of Independence.