Are unclassified roads getting much muddier

[Deckie]

They ain't cleaning the roads, they ain't maintaining the roads, and they ain't clearing out ditches and drainage.
They used to, but they ain't now.

Spot on.

It's very easy to blame farmers with larger equipment. Yes that's true, but ALL vehicles are bigger, and especially WIDER now (a new model VW Polo is almost 12" wider than a Mk 1 Golf! The new Golf is nearly 6" wider again), so passing each other people have no option but to drive over the verge.

After many complaints we have been told that the council will be clearing the drainage channels and road side cuts in our village tomorrow. First time in five years. A job that was done every year is now left so the edges of the roads are commonly under water and deteriorate faster creating more potholes that cost more to repair.

[Psamathe]

And council tax hasn't increased for 6 years.

Ours has.

So has ours. Except in fairness, it's only the Police component that has increased (I guess we have Police Commissioners and their teams and their expenses, etc. to pay for).

Ian

[Psamathe]

They ain't cleaning the roads, they ain't maintaining the roads, and they ain't clearing out ditches and drainage.
They used to, but they ain't now.

Spot on.

It's very easy to blame farmers with larger equipment. Yes that's true, but ALL vehicles are bigger, and especially WIDER now (a new model VW Polo is almost 12" wider than a Mk 1 Golf! The new Golf is nearly 6" wider again), so passing each other people have no option but to drive over the verge.
...

Out today quite a few places were muddy because of this. Except it is not cars driving up on the verge as much as driving into the verge. Many of our smaller roads have mud sides (maybe a steep "wall" of soil between a foot and a few feet high). All these 4x4/SUV/Cab things are wide so whilst two hatch backs could pass without knocking verge onto the road, the 4x4/SUV/cab things can't and they gradually widen the road.

And what is almost worse is that once the road has been "widened" by this process, the added width taken from the verge has no hard surface so vehicles quickly turn this into a deep trench. So cycle into that and ...

Ian

[mjr]

And what is almost worse is that once the road has been "widened" by this process, the added width taken from the verge has no hard surface so vehicles quickly turn this into a deep trench. So cycle into that and ...

you suddenly find yourself sat on the road facing its centre while your bike has cartwheeled into the verge It happened to someone on a KLWNBUG day trip a year or two ago. There was no damage to bike or rider (and no cars anywhere in sight, as usual) and it was a very graphic reminder to keep an eye on where the edge of the tarmac is, rather than the edge of the verge.

There are at least two consequential problems of this overrunning:

• Councils tarmacking the overrun, thereby widening the road, reducing the available verge, sometimes leaving the drains well inside the road edge as they struggle to cope with the extra run-off, leading to large puddles and ice and ...
• Landowners putting boulders on the verge to discourage further overrunning that seem like a serious hazard for cycles and riders if you do cycle into such a deep trench...