Road works

[Penguin68]

In my youth I seem to remember being able to go within 10 minutes drive of my home and not come across any road works disrupting traffic for months, even years. Even when I moved to ED over 30 years ago it could be weeks and months between disruption (lights or diversions). In the last 18 months or so I cannot remember a day when one road at least somewhere within, as I said, 10 minutes drive of home, wasn't partially or wholly blocked. Sometimes there have been no ways away from my house (including in directions I didn't want to travel!) where there wasn't some blockage or other.

What is happening? I know that infrastructure needs renewal and repair, but frequently simple road works (without gas, water or electricity renewal or repair elements) result in no discernible difference after 6 weeks of delay. I cite the works on the Crystal Palace Road and Whateley junction

Is my memory simply playing tricks - or are things really much worse now than before?

[seenbeen]

I don't know when it started but in schools there is a 'use it or lose it' culture. Every year we are allocated an IT specific budget which has to be spent on IT in that year in our department- or we lose it- and the fear is that when it's gone, it's gone so stuff is purchased for the sake of it. I daresay this phenomenon occurs all over the public sector....

[spider69]

It is not just roads but pavements as well.

Coming along Pytchley Road this afternoon, the pavement on the corner with Dog Kennel Hill is being dug up. It was only laid a little while ago.

This is also happening where ever you look

[Penguin68]

The council seeks non-capped revenue streams (such as park parking and CPZs and garden waste collection) yet seems entirely profligate when it comes to some types of street work (of course a lot of the problem is utilities). Do they have a minimum contract with Conway's which they are spending up to?

[JohnL]

seenbeen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don't know when it started but in schools there

> is a 'use it or lose it' culture. Every year we

> are allocated an IT specific budget which has to

> be spent on IT in that year in our department- or

> we lose it- and the fear is that when it's gone,

> it's gone so stuff is purchased for the sake of

> it. I daresay this phenomenon occurs all over the

> public sector....

It used to happen back in the day too. I was told that in my first job - IT training in the NHS in 1990, spend it or we lose it and we used to spend it all in March before the April deadline :)

[exdulwicher]

It's not always councils.

Utilities can be dug up at pretty much anytime by the relevant company without the council necessarily needing to give permission (they just have to be aware). Not always, but quite often.

The utilities companies can be charged/fined for over-running works so it's usually in their interests to get it done as quickly as possible.

Actual roadworks - maintaining and improving the highway - is the council responsibility but the problem is now that there's so much traffic (which is much heavier than traffic 20 years ago - cars weigh far more, there are far more of them) that the roads simply don't last as long. You get one pothole and as vehicles crash over it and water gets into it, it erodes more and more. The cheap patchwork repair job (fill it in with gravel and tar) isn't up to standards and will fail again and the process repeats.

However councils don't have the funds to do a proper repair job where you dig up half the road, fill in and strengthen the whole lot then re-surface. They'll just make do and mend. Short term fixes.