Thursday 3 January 2008

The Utilities' Road Damage


I have lost count of the innumerable times when I've reported a pothole or sunken manhole cover on the Province's roads, especially if it's a route I use regularly. It is so easy to report now online.

When I drove up to David Lloyd's every day recently I kept bumping over a sunken manhole cover on the main road so, while stopped at the traffic lights I made a point of noting the nearest house number.

Next time I was on my PC I visited the Roads Service website and told them about it. Simple. They usually email me when they've located the fault and let me know who is responsible: in this case, BT must repair the damage.

We spend millions of pounds on our roads every year, only for the utility companies to damage the surfaces with their drills and fill the holes in with invariably shoddy workmanship.

If the utility companies were heavily penalized for poor quality road repairs; or compelled to completely resurface an entire section of the road, perhaps their standards may improve.

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