Pot holes and pavements

The place for serious discussion, announcements and breaking news about Sydenham
dickp
Posts: 567
Joined: 7 Jan 2005 14:39
Location: Cardiff

Pot holes and pavements

Post by dickp »

While working along Wells Park Road this morning, I noticed workmen were "improving" pavements by dropping kerbs and replacing slabs.

Presumably, the council is on its annual year-end spending spurge.

Meanwhile, the colossal pot holes right next to the workmen grow ever larger. Presumably because the kerb work was planned months in advance, whereas the pot holes weren’t.

Councils really are a bit rubbish at reacting to events, and re-prioritising accordingly, aren't they? Thank god they don't run food shops or clothing retailers! We’ve either starve or freeze any time anything remotely unexpected happened to the weather.
stuart
Posts: 3635
Joined: 21 Sep 2004 10:13
Location: Lawrie Park
Contact:

Post by stuart »

Here is a video taken two days ago. A cyclist is concentrating so hard on avoiding the potholes that he goes too near the parked vehicles and doesn't spot the opening door. Had they collided the cyclist would get the pain and the white van driver the blame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHb-5QpJQHw

IMHO the real villain was in the Town Hall.

Stuart
multisync
Posts: 282
Joined: 5 Sep 2007 06:12
Location: upper sydenham

Post by multisync »

Wells park road is falling to bits gravel and tarmac is thrown up on to the pavement when vehicles drive along.If it is raining in some places it is difficult not to get wet as the splashes from the potholes go right across the pavement.But the I suppose the council don't think the road is important enough to be re surfaced as it is generally a "council estate" area.Whereas Longton Avenue, has just been resurfaced from beginning to end and is used a lot less than Wells Park Road
Sowden
Posts: 8
Joined: 29 Aug 2005 14:05
Location: Sydenham

Post by Sowden »

I've noticed a rapid deterioration in roads in the area since we had the snowstorms, but in truth they were very bad before that. My finger of blame (index on the right hand) is pointing directly at the various contractors that dig up roads to do work and then fill them in to a substandard level.

Walk along our high street and you will notice that it looks like a patchwork quilt, drive along it and it'll shake your fillings loose. The council needs to ensure that any contractor who digs up the road has to fill it in to a certain standard and check following each piece of work.

This was my feedback on the proposed improvements to the high street. All very well and good spending all this money to make it better, but we need to make sure that it remains a good road even after we have had Mr Thames Water giving it a going over.
DanW
Posts: 85
Joined: 25 Oct 2007 17:10
Location: Sydenham

Post by DanW »

multisync wrote:Wells park road..... I suppose the council don't think the road is important enough to be re surfaced as it is generally a "council estate" area.Whereas Longton Avenue, has just been resurfaced from beginning to end and is used a lot less than Wells Park Road
I last had contact with the Highways Team at Lewisham regarding this in November (and the fact that Thames Water had removed the island to cross the road at the junction with Wells Park Road & Kirkdale). At the time they were agreeing with Thames Water what remedial work they would undertake to Wells Park Road and I presume the council would carry out any other repairs needed. This was supposed to have been resolved around Christmas time, obviously hasn't happened yet though.

If a few more people report it to Highways@lewisham.gov.uk it might push the repairs up the queue.....
Ronski
Posts: 437
Joined: 6 Jan 2006 01:19
Location: SE26

Post by Ronski »

There's an online form to do it as well here, also has a tfl link for red routes that might be useful...

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/.../Lewisham ... tholes.htm

I reported one 3 weeks ago & it actually got filled, it's now opened up again but it was good for a week or so :)
davieboy66
Posts: 10
Joined: 21 Feb 2010 20:29
Location: Lawrie Park

Post by davieboy66 »

Glad to see some of the many potholes filled in during the last week. Bravo !
My car took a battering whilst cutting through the top end of Highclere Street, but thankfully all is now well.

Not a moment too soon !
Ronski
Posts: 437
Joined: 6 Jan 2006 01:19
Location: SE26

Post by Ronski »

It was getting like a dirt track up there davieboy66, they repaired them a week or so after I reported them so I'd report any you see as it looks like they actually do them!
zampa
Posts: 2
Joined: 4 Mar 2010 11:35
Location: Sydenham

Potholes in Wells Park Road

Post by zampa »

Hi First time on forum

I have recentley been in touch with tfl and Lewisham council as to the thr pothole situation, this is part of the reply"An inspection was carried out in Wells Park Road between Halifax Road and Kirkdale and 11 potholes were identified and made safe.

The damage caused to the section between Dallas Road and Halifax Street is the responsibility of Thames Water Utilities. They have now agreed to accept the cost of resurfacing this section of road. We are currently carrying out traffic improvements in Wells Park Road and once this work is completed, we will be carrying out the resurfacing work. We anticipate that this will commence in the April.May period.
Jane O'Dwyer (Mrs)
Contact & Information Officer
Transport Policy & Programming
London Borough of Lewisham
Wearside Road Service Centre
Wearside Road
Lewisham SE13 7EZ

I hope this helps :)
Rebelmc
Posts: 172
Joined: 8 Feb 2006 14:38
Location: Sydenham

Post by Rebelmc »

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread, because this is an all time classic.

Some of you may remember that, until about 4 weeks ago, there was a set of temp lights at the CP end of Sydenham Hill, while some contractors did water main work.

The works were there for 3-4 weeks and involved digging a deep trench, almost the entire width of the road.

Within a couple of days of the trench being filled in and the surface being repaired, the repair had begun to sink, to a depth varying between approximately 2 and 8 inches, depending on which side of the road you were looking at/driving over.

The repair got steadily worse, culminating in some bright spark putting half a dozen cones in the middle of the road (just after a blind bend, if you're coming from the Kirkdale end) in order to prevent vehicles having to negotiate a foot deep hole, full of water.

At this stage, I should point out that these works took place almost directly outside my bedroom window.

Today, Easter Sunday, they have decided to effect remedial repairs, involving floodlights, mechanical diggers and pneumatic drills; a good thing, you might think.

Except they started at sometime in the evening and they haven't finished yet..........now look at the time stamp on this post!
ALIB
Posts: 1553
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 21:34
Location: East Sussex

Post by ALIB »

Double Bubble
Rachael
Posts: 2455
Joined: 23 Jan 2010 13:42
Location: Sydenham / Forest Hill Intersection

Post by Rachael »

It may be worth having your sleep disrupted for one night if the repairs are done properly. Many potholes were given temporary patches when the snow cleared in February, but that just made things worse. Within a week, the repairs opened up and there was new rubble and stones all over the road to add to the original mess. Sunnydene Street is a particular favourite of mine in this regard.

I lived in Manhattan for a few years and there they always do resurfacing work through the night, over weekends. Everyone just accepted it was the best way to do it, because the repairs / resurfacing were done properly. Which meant that it didn't have to be redone over and over and over...
Miserableold-ish git
Posts: 44
Joined: 7 May 2009 08:12
Location: Mayow Road SE26 4AA

Post by Miserableold-ish git »

My van hit a pot hole or 6 at the Sydenham Road end of Trewsbury Road amonth or so ago whilst we had a full load of carpets,underlay,etc.
Struggled with it for the day but had to take it into a garage the following day. Cost me £180 for the damage,etc.
Have photos o.f the holes and copies of the Invoice.
Need to know who to send them to.....
(won't bother with Lewisham Council...Nothing is Ever their fault!).
Juwlz
Posts: 749
Joined: 26 Oct 2005 20:49
Location: Outer Sydenham

Post by Juwlz »

Rebelmc wrote:Just thought I'd resurrect this thread, because this is an all time classic.

Some of you may remember that, until about 4 weeks ago, there was a set of temp lights at the CP end of Sydenham Hill, while some contractors did water main work.

The works were there for 3-4 weeks and involved digging a deep trench, almost the entire width of the road.

Within a couple of days of the trench being filled in and the surface being repaired, the repair had begun to sink, to a depth varying between approximately 2 and 8 inches, depending on which side of the road you were looking at/driving over.

The repair got steadily worse, culminating in some bright spark putting half a dozen cones in the middle of the road (just after a blind bend, if you're coming from the Kirkdale end) in order to prevent vehicles having to negotiate a foot deep hole, full of water.

At this stage, I should point out that these works took place almost directly outside my bedroom window.

Today, Easter Sunday, they have decided to effect remedial repairs, involving floodlights, mechanical diggers and pneumatic drills; a good thing, you might think.

Except they started at sometime in the evening and they haven't finished yet..........now look at the time stamp on this post!
Yeah, this is the same hole that my small car nearly disappeared down a couple of weeks or so ago - just before they put up the cones as a 'warning' exactly as you say. My car was fully laden with stuff at the time and I was really worried that some serious damage had been done but the tyres seem okay at least.

What I find amazing - and the reason for this post is that, yes, they have filled it in again, but its STILL dipping in on one side of the road and is a noticable jolt as you go over it. Why is it so hard to fix a hole in the road???
Chazza
Posts: 290
Joined: 28 Mar 2008 12:51
Location: Sydenham end of Venner Road

Post by Chazza »

Just keep reporting it on http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ and, after wasting a few thou on bodge jobs, they'll eventually get round to resurfacing that section of road.
floom
Posts: 106
Joined: 25 Jun 2007 10:49
Location: se26

Post by floom »

If you want to help towards dealing with potholes and and road maintainence in general, there's one simple, direct thing you can do - make cyclists pay road tax.
After all, they use the roads; so instead of incessantly whining about the state of the roads, they can make a positive contribution and help pay for what they use.
spanishsydenhamgirl
Posts: 10
Joined: 4 Mar 2010 23:32
Location: sydenham

Post by spanishsydenhamgirl »

Floom

I think you'll find there is no such thing as road tax.

Most people who own cars have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (exemptions include vehicles for disabled drivers and war pensioners - do you hate them too?) & the amount depends on the emissions produced by their cars- very green cars don't pay this tax either (though no car is as green as a bike!). VED is not ring fenced to pay for fixing the pot-holes caused by heavy traffic (not usually caused by pedestrians or bikes).

Cyclists pay many taxes - including VAT & income tax. These also go towards road building and infrastructure. Many cyclists also own cars and pay VED. Cyclists probably do moan more about pot holes than other road users, but perhaps that's because they are potentially lethal for them.

Here's some more propaganda!

http://ipayroadtax.com/
bensonby
Posts: 1655
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

floom wrote:If you want to help towards dealing with potholes and and road maintainence in general, there's one simple, direct thing you can do - make cyclists pay road tax.
After all, they use the roads; so instead of incessantly whining about the state of the roads, they can make a positive contribution and help pay for what they use.
you have a real bee in your bonnet don't you?
leenewham
Posts: 5886
Joined: 2 Sep 2007 11:58
Location: SYDENHAM
Contact:

Post by leenewham »

Lets tax pedestians, they cross roads and therefore are road users.

And lets tax traffic cones. And chewing gum. There are loads of those on the roads too.
Chazza
Posts: 290
Joined: 28 Mar 2008 12:51
Location: Sydenham end of Venner Road

Post by Chazza »

floom wrote:If you want to help towards dealing with potholes and and road maintainence in general, there's one simple, direct thing you can do - make cyclists pay road tax.
After all, they use the roads; so instead of incessantly whining about the state of the roads, they can make a positive contribution and help pay for what they use.
I ride a bike to work. I also use a car at weekends. Therefore, I do pay "road tax" as you call it.

I'd actually be willing to pay additional road tax as a cyclist, if only to stop other road users bleating on about it. However, I'd only be happy to pay for the proportion of wear and tear caused by my bicycle. Let's call it somewhere around a quid a year.

By the way, I was knocked off my bicycle last week, by a person driving a car towing a trailer. They hadn't taken into account the fact that their trailer was two feet wider than their car when they passed me with inches to spare between their wing mirror and my right arm. Surely this incident would have been avoided if they had paid "road tax" on their trailer(!)
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