Loose stones on the road

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Lawrie9
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Loose stones on the road

Post by Lawrie9 »

We often hear about pot holes and the damge hey cause but there seems to be a lot of loose stones, scree and stuff that has washed off hillsides from landslips. I had to replace a front wheet from hitting a stone and it seems to be that the cutbacks has meant more stones and debris is left on the roads.
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Spinners
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by Spinners »

Aye. One of my regular rides has such stones and debris right on a downhill bend and it's given me a fright on a couple of occasions.
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Tonyf33
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by Tonyf33 »

I made a complaint to the local highways whom cleared the footpaths and swept all the loose debris/chippings right into the gap between the path crossing and the pedestrian refuge. They denied there was a problem so I made the complaint official at county level, they still didn't sweep it up.
Then there's the build up of the chippings from the chip n tar relain roads....oh the list is endless, it' proper horrible out there :x
karlt
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Re: Loose stones on the road

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Audax67
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by Audax67 »

Just to show how much they care about cyclists, the local authority here gritted the descent from one of our cols just a couple of days before a brevet montagnard. The event was officially declared to the Préfecture two months earlier, and they're supposed to notify the organisers of projected roadworks. Did they? Did they hell. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd timed the roadworks so as to cause the most trouble possible.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by al_yrpal »

Its actually your District Council that is responsible for clearing road debris NOT the County Council. If they ignore your warning that gravel is a hazard and a cyclist is injured as a result they are responsible and will have to pay up for damages.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Tonyf33
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by Tonyf33 »

al_yrpal wrote:Its actually your District Council that is responsible for clearing road debris NOT the County Council. If they ignore your warning that gravel is a hazard and a cyclist is injured as a result they are responsible and will have to pay up for damages.

Al

The highways dept are responsible for maintenance and the legal duty - Highways Act 1980 \chapter 66 section 41 & 56 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66 falls upon the County Council of which the highways forms part of, the district council has nothing to do with it, they are only responsible for litter and general detritus. The contractor was employed by the highways agency and the debris/stones are not detritus, ergo it is definitely the CC that is duty bound by law within 28 days to fix it.
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CREPELLO
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by CREPELLO »

Lawrie9 wrote:We often hear about pot holes and the damage hey cause but there seems to be a lot of loose stones, scree and stuff that has washed off hillsides from landslips. I had to replace a front wheet from hitting a stone and it seems to be that the cutbacks has meant more stones and debris is left on the roads.

I notice that you live in Powys. From what I'm reading in the local press it seems they are making some dire cutbacks in spending to stick with the grand plan for austerity. They also have a very extensive road network to up-keep.

Here in Shropshire, the roads are being kept in what I would describe as a 'just about acceptable' state. Any worse and it will be unacceptable.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by al_yrpal »

Tonyf33 wrote:
al_yrpal wrote:Its actually your District Council that is responsible for clearing road debris NOT the County Council. If they ignore your warning that gravel is a hazard and a cyclist is injured as a result they are responsible and will have to pay up for damages.

Al

The highways dept are responsible for maintenance and the legal duty - Highways Act 1980 \chapter 66 section 41 & 56 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66 falls upon the County Council of which the highways forms part of, the district council has nothing to do with it, they are only responsible for litter and general detritus. The contractor was employed by the highways agency and the debris/stones are not detritus, ergo it is definitely the CC that is duty bound by law within 28 days to fix it.


Well, that was a quote from the Oxfordshire County Council pothole inspector who I stopped and pointed it out to. Jobsworth mate… ”Its South Oxfordshire District Councils responsibility"

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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bovlomov
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by bovlomov »

Lawrie9 wrote:We often hear about pot holes and the damge hey cause but there seems to be a lot of loose stones, scree and stuff that has washed off hillsides from landslips. I had to replace a front wheet from hitting a stone and it seems to be that the cutbacks has meant more stones and debris is left on the roads.

For urban cyclists it's the scree and stuff that washes out of building sites and that falls off the wheels of construction lorries.
Mark1978
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by Mark1978 »

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Last edited by Mark1978 on 29 Jul 2015, 4:29pm, edited 1 time in total.
sirmy
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by sirmy »

Tony f33 "The contractor was employed by the highways agency and the debris/stones are not detritus, ergo it is definitely the CC that is duty bound by law within 28 days to fix it."

If the work was carried ouy for the Highways Agency (or highways England as it is now) then that suggests the road is a trunk road, as they are responsible for maintenance of motorways and trunk roads, and wouldn't be the responsibility of the highway authority (unless you mistyped). In areas with a unitary authority or in area formerly covered by the artifical counties thought up in the 70's it may be the city or district council rather than the county who are the highway authority. It could also be that the contractor could be held responsible for debris lkeft in the carriageway, depending on how lng th ework has been completed. that would be for the highway authority to follow up on.
JamesE
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by JamesE »

On the way back from the Dunwich Dynamo last month I found big drifts of sand across a lot of the Suffolk back lanes – several metres long in places, and occasionally deep enough that I had to dismount and push across rather than risk a fall. Anyone know if they’ve always been this bad? I’m not sure where the sand is coming from, either – some of it was miles inland, and the beaches are shingle, so it may just be very dry thin soil blowing off the farmland.
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chris_suffolk
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by chris_suffolk »

After heavy rain, round about the time of the DD as I recall, lots of sand is washed out of the surrounding land. Much of the area is very sandy in Suffolk - just look in many of the fields to see. So it's not come more than a few yards. Not sure why the land is so sandy whilst the coast itself is shingle, can only assume that the sea currents move all the sand whilst leaving the stones
Tonyf33
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Re: Loose stones on the road

Post by Tonyf33 »

sirmy wrote:Tony f33 "The contractor was employed by the highways agency and the debris/stones are not detritus, ergo it is definitely the CC that is duty bound by law within 28 days to fix it."

If the work was carried ouy for the Highways Agency (or highways England as it is now) then that suggests the road is a trunk road, as they are responsible for maintenance of motorways and trunk roads, and wouldn't be the responsibility of the highway authority (unless you mistyped). In areas with a unitary authority or in area formerly covered by the artifical counties thought up in the 70's it may be the city or district council rather than the county who are the highway authority. It could also be that the contractor could be held responsible for debris lkeft in the carriageway, depending on how lng th ework has been completed. that would be for the highway authority to follow up on.

I used 'agency' latterly which is a generic term but obviously since I had already mentioned the stones were from a footpath and between that and a pedestrian refuge and I was reporting the problem/complaint to the county council it was obvious what dept I was talking about...
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