Road closures due to resurfacing

[Bertie the bus]

On various trips around Lancashire recently I have encountered a large number of road closures due to resurfacing. Probably more in the last 2 or 3 months than in the previous decade.

I was wondering whether this is a nationwide phenomenon or whether it is localised and potentially linked to Reform taking control of Lancashire CC in the spring.

 

[pdq]

I've noticed it in Kirklees as well. Probably more to do with extra government funding coming through - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...ublic-urged-to-report-roads-in-need-of-repair

Councils will receive £1.6 billion in funding to repair roads and fill potholes to start to reverse a decade of decline on our roads

and more critical attention being given to the issue - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0eg39e01w8o

English councils will be ranked according to their pothole fixing progress under government plans, with those who fail to publish updates losing out on millions in funding.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said local authorities' road maintenance pot would be boosted by £500m from mid-April, but councils must publish annual reports detailing progress on potholes or lose a quarter of that extra funding.

 

[Foxhunter]

What I have observed in Hampshire is that road closures are a lot more frequent than they were. No data, just observation that in the past a road resurfacing would be on one side of the road, then the other, so that traffic could continue on the other side with traffic lights or men with boards; nowadays it's more likely a whole road closed until done. In rural areas this can lead to some chunky additional miles on your journey.

 

[Kite159]

If the road being closed means they do a reasonable job at repairing the various potholes & other issues then it's a small price to pay for long term gain.

If the road is simply being closed and all they are doing is getting Derek Trotter to fill in the potholes with porridge which makes the pothole reappear within days (but don't worry the council has ticked a box and Derek has been paid) then it's a waste of time.

 

[Topological]

Wasn't the pothole filling from HS2 being cancelled?

There has been quite a lot of work done down here too, so it probably is not Reform. Though it would be an interesting correlation between Reform and the rate of road investment in Lancashire...

 

[Bertie the bus]

Pothole filling was supposed to be paid for by the cancellation of HS2 but that was back in 2023 and the activity I've seen only started this spring / summer. It isn't pothole filling as such either. Not just a couple of blokes in a flatbed van chucking a bit of tarmac about but proper road scouring and relaying.

It might have nothing to do with Reform now running Lancs CC but the timing does seem very coincidental and the amount of work is like nothing I've seen in the past. I see a road being resurfaced virtually every time I go anywhere.

 

[py_megapixel]

Large number of closures for resurfacing seem to have popped up in Sheffield lately as well. Of our 84 councillors, only one is Reform (thank god...)

 

[Paul AC]

I'd love to have more road closures for resurfacing where I live in Trafford. The roads are in an appalling state and they are getting worse - any resurfacing is certainly not keeping up with the worsening of the road surface elsewhere.

There seems to be two basic problems:
1. many roads resurfaced say 10 to 15 years ago (I've lived here for more than 30 years) are failing in exactly the same way: tarmac peeling away in great chunks, leaving bare whatever is underneath. Usually this fails to meet whatever rule the council have made up to call something a "pothole" so gets left to get worse and worse. (*)
2. nobody controls how well the road surface is restored after the inevitable holes are dug to add or fix water, sewer, power, telecomms or whatever infrastructure. Holes and dips soon appear which develop into potholes really quickly. Why can't the council ensure that companies who dig up the road put it back properly, or penalise them when the inevitable repairs are needed?

 

[Russel]

Around Staffordshire, in Tamworth and Lichfield, I've noticed a real push on road resurfacing over the last few months, though it seems roads already in a fairly good condition are being done over roads where the surface resembles Swiss cheese...

I'm sure there is a reason, weather it makes sense or not is a different matter.

 

[styles]

Fife like to do full road closures with often hilarious (but necessary) diversions.

Personally I'd relax restrictions on doing non urgent repairs at night. Most councils won't do them due to the noise, unless they have no other option. But frankly if we want the roads repaired in a timely manner, I'm sure there'd be enough workies happy to do a bit of night time work for extra pay and get the whole lot done quicker.

 

[PeterC]

Been a lot around here too. Its a bit annoying when you hit two consecutive sets of roadworks within 2 miles, uncoordinated because there is a county boundary between the two.

 

[The exile]

Fife like to do full road closures with often hilarious (but necessary) diversions.

Personally I'd relax restrictions on doing non urgent repairs at night. Most councils won't do them due to the noise, unless they have no other option. But frankly if we want the roads repaired in a timely manner, I'm sure there'd be enough workies happy to do a bit of night time work for extra pay and get the whole lot done quicker.

Can understand the night time noise restrictions - however the definition of “nighttime” seems to be very generous. Certainly in the summer when it’s light normal hours for road works etc should be 06.00 - 20.00 at least. I’m referring to situations where the road remains closed throughout even when work isn’t happening- delaying a start till after rush hour traffic has passed through is a different matter.

 

[RT4038]

Fife like to do full road closures with often hilarious (but necessary) diversions.

Personally I'd relax restrictions on doing non urgent repairs at night. Most councils won't do them due to the noise, unless they have no other option. But frankly if we want the roads repaired in a timely manner, I'm sure there'd be enough workies happy to do a bit of night time work for extra pay and get the whole lot done quicker.

The extra pay will mean that less road can be done within the budget, so I suggest this would be counter productive. If 'we' want the roads repaired in a timely manner, we need to pay for more road gangs to do the repairs, but the taxes we are prepared to pay won't cover that.

 

[Lewisham2221]

The extra pay will mean that less road can be done within the budget, so I suggest this would be counter productive. If 'we' want the roads repaired in a timely manner, we need to pay for more road gangs to do the repairs, but the taxes we are prepared to pay won't cover that.

Depends on the finer details. Fewer, longer closures are more efficient than more, shorter closures because you don't have to waste as much time setting tup and packing down.

 

[DelW]

Personally I'd relax restrictions on doing non urgent repairs at night. Most councils won't do them due to the noise, unless they have no other option. But frankly if we want the roads repaired in a timely manner, I'm sure there'd be enough workies happy to do a bit of night time work for extra pay and get the whole lot done quicker.

It's not just the surfacing gang though. The material is mixed and laid hot, so the mixing plant has to be kept open and staffed overnight, plus drivers for the fleet of trucks delivering it. It's quite feasible, and it's done for major routes, but all that adds to the cost.

 

[brad465]

Somerset has seen this as well (and is a Lib Dem council area). However I take issue with the "loose chippings" method of resurfacing roads, which isn't IMO how to fix a road. It would probably work if the binding residue treatment was done before the road reopened to traffic, such that no traffic used the road while the loose chippings are on the surface, but leaving the road in that state leads to them being scattered, even where drivers take care as requested. They're also a menace for cyclists, who are more susceptible to punctures, as well as a higher skid risk, even when travelling below the requested speed limit on the surface.

 

[Kite159]

Somerset has seen this as well (and is a Lib Dem council area). However I take issue with the "loose chippings" method of resurfacing roads, which isn't IMO how to fix a road. It would probably work if the binding residue treatment was done before the road reopened to traffic, such that no traffic used the road while the loose chippings are on the surface, but leaving the road in that state leads to them being scattered, even where drivers take care as requested. They're also a menace for cyclists, who are more susceptible to punctures, as well as a higher skid risk, even when travelling below the requested speed limit on the surface.

And they tend to block drains so the next time it rains heavily the road floods.

 

[DelW]

It would probably work if the binding residue treatment was done before the road reopened to traffic, such that no traffic used the road while the loose chippings are on the surface, but leaving the road in that state leads to them being scattered, even where drivers take care as requested.

Surface dressing relies on the tyres of vehicles using the road to roll the chippings into the bitumen coat. That rolling could be done with a rubber tyred roller, but that would be slower and cost more. The problem is that vehicles travelling above a very low speed (around 10 - 20 mph) can drag the chippings out of the bitumen, leaving bare patches. One solution is for the contractor to escort vehicles through the chipped section at low speed, but that's obviously frustrating to delayed drivers.

And they tend to block drains so the next time it rains heavily the road floods.

Surplus chippings should be collected up by a suction brush within a few hours (and recycled), but unfortunately this isn't always done.