"Sacha" wrote...
and it really is, too - nothing but grey as far as I can see. The whole
landscape is very bleak but various birds are popping around here and
there which cheers things up a bit. We had thought of going out for lunch
today but when Ray rang his daughter to suggest it, she said she didn't
think she or we would get through the lanes - sheet ice everywhere. It
was the same yesterday for a large part of the day, so it looks like
another afternoon in front of the fire and the telly. Tsk! ;-)

Beautiful sunshine here today, actually for the past few days. One black
cloud today just made it's way over but nothing came of it.
Cold though picking the sprouts for dinner, but at least they weren't frozen
on the stalk this time. Everything is still frozen where the sun hasn't been
and the remaining puddles at the sides of the roads are frozen solid too.
The roads have really suffered this time here (Surrey), virtually all have
sections breaking up and large potholes everywhere, beside all the drains
that have dropped or subsided.
The Gov't don't want people driving 4x4s, if they don't improve the roads
and spend serious money totally resurfacing them, we will all find them a
necessity just to get around.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Bob Hobden writes
The Gov't don't want people driving 4x4s, if they don't improve the
roads and spend serious money totally resurfacing them, we will all
find them a necessity just to get around.

The Gov't are directly responsible only for the motorways and a few
trunk roads. All the rest are the responsibility of the local
authorities.
--
Kay

"K" wrote ...
Bob Hobden writes
The Gov't don't want people driving 4x4s, if they don't improve the roads
and spend serious money totally resurfacing them, we will all find them a
necessity just to get around.

The Gov't are directly responsible only for the motorways and a few trunk
roads. All the rest are the responsibility of the local authorities.

If this thieving Govn't didn't divert the money that our Councils here are
supposed to get from the Tax Revenue then we might have the money to do
something about our roads. The situation here is so bad now that only
central government money will change the situation, virtually ever road in
Surrey needs complete resurfacing including ones that have only been
resurfaced in the last two years like Ashford (Middx) main road! The main
A30 between Staines and Bedfont is like a third world road.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

"Martin" wrote...
K wrote:
Bob Hobden writes
The Gov't don't want people driving 4x4s, if they don't improve the
roads and spend serious money totally resurfacing them, we will all
find them a necessity just to get around.

The Gov't are directly responsible only for the motorways and a few
trunk roads. All the rest are the responsibility of the local
authorities.

The majority of which are not controlled by the Labour Party. The same
people
are responsible for high local taxation and over paid council officials.

The fact is this Gov't has been diverting some County Council's share of the
Tax Revenue to other Councils and projects, so in Surrey the roads suffer
because the money isn't there.
County don't get all their funds from local taxes they get an annual share
from the Treasury but this Govn't has tinkered with the share-out, I'm told,
favouring other areas of the country.

That said, the whole country's roads are in such a bad state the Annual
Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey states....

"The 2009 ALARM Survey is the 14th to be published and reports that £8.5
billion is now needed to bring the roads of England and Wales up to scratch.
Local authorities relate that they still only receive around half of the
road maintenance budgets they need, resulting in a backlog of up to 13
years."

http://www.asphaltindustryalliance.com/alarm.asp


--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Bob Hobden writes

That said, the whole country's roads are in such a bad state the Annual
Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey states....

"The 2009 ALARM Survey is the 14th to be published and reports that
£8.5 billion is now needed to bring the roads of England and Wales up
to scratch. Local authorities relate that they still only receive
around half of the road maintenance budgets they need, resulting in a
backlog of up to 13 years."

http://www.asphaltindustryalliance.com/alarm.asp


"Up to scratch" is a rather subjective term. I wonder whether the
Asphalt Industry Alliance definition of "up to scratch" matches, for
example, my definition?
--
Kay

"K" wrote
Bob Hobden writes

That said, the whole country's roads are in such a bad state the Annual
Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey states....

"The 2009 ALARM Survey is the 14th to be published and reports that £8.5
billion is now needed to bring the roads of England and Wales up to
scratch. Local authorities relate that they still only receive around half
of the road maintenance budgets they need, resulting in a backlog of up to
13 years."

http://www.asphaltindustryalliance.com/alarm.asp


"Up to scratch" is a rather subjective term. I wonder whether the Asphalt
Industry Alliance definition of "up to scratch" matches, for example, my
definition?

Maybe, depends if you drive and like spending money on repairs (just had new
front suspension bushes fitted) caused by the dire state of our roads, even
the dreaded speed bumps are falling apart round here.
Figures and cost of bringing the roads "up to scratch" are from the Councils
themselves, see my link.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Bob Hobden writes

"Up to scratch" is a rather subjective term. I wonder whether the
Asphalt Industry Alliance definition of "up to scratch" matches, for
example, my definition?

Maybe, depends if you drive and like spending money on repairs (just
had new front suspension bushes fitted) caused by the dire state of
our roads, even the dreaded speed bumps are falling apart round here.

As someone who travels locally on foot more often than by car, I'm not
too fussed about anything that means drivers drive more slowly.

Figures and cost of bringing the roads "up to scratch" are from the
Councils themselves, see my link.

... but it was the Asphalt Industry Alliance that asked the question
(yes, I read the link).
--
Kay

"K" wrote ...
Bob Hobden writes

"Up to scratch" is a rather subjective term. I wonder whether the
Asphalt Industry Alliance definition of "up to scratch" matches, for
example, my definition?

Maybe, depends if you drive and like spending money on repairs (just had
new front suspension bushes fitted) caused by the dire state of our
roads, even the dreaded speed bumps are falling apart round here.

As someone who travels locally on foot more often than by car, I'm not too
fussed about anything that means drivers drive more slowly.

Figures and cost of bringing the roads "up to scratch" are from the
Councils themselves, see my link.

... but it was the Asphalt Industry Alliance that asked the question
(yes, I read the link).

Speed is not a significant cause or even part cause of accidents, and that
is in official figures, driver inattention is and damaged roads that mean
you are concentrating on looking for the next pothole (or speed bump) and
not, say, moving feet under a parked car or that cyclist that is about to
swerve around a hole mean you are significantly at more danger with the
roads in this state.
Then there is the mechanical failure situation caused by the potholes. I
myself have suffered a partial but serious deflation* in an outside tyre
after hitting a deep pothole on a corner, a very dangerous situation for us
and any one else around.
*lost 18psi in a front tyre in an instant.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

In article ,
K wrote:
Bob Hobden writes

"Up to scratch" is a rather subjective term. I wonder whether the
Asphalt Industry Alliance definition of "up to scratch" matches, for
example, my definition?

Maybe, depends if you drive and like spending money on repairs (just
had new front suspension bushes fitted) caused by the dire state of
our roads, even the dreaded speed bumps are falling apart round here.

As someone who travels locally on foot more often than by car, I'm not
too fussed about anything that means drivers drive more slowly.

Even it it makes it much more difficult to cross roads on foot?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.