FINAL WORD

How Turbulent Weather Led To A Surge In Potholes

January is typically a slow news month, but there are a few annual events guaranteed to fill column inches.

One is ‘Blue Monday’, a date that falls in late January. Back in 2005, Sky Travel claimed it to be the most depressing day of the year. Although largely proclaimed as hogwash, it routinely becomes a topic of conversation around the third Monday of the year, and also provides a boost to New Order’s royalties cheque, thanks to their 1983 song of the same name.

The other is, of course, potholes...

The weather conditions this year have been ideal, leading to a bumper crop of potholes. First, heavy rainfall dampens the underlying soil structure, then heavy traffic depresses the now poorly-supported asphalt surface. The result is bloody great holes in the road. And of course, with traffic contributing to their creation in the first place, they are often on the natural driving line. (Poor road repairs can also be a contributing factor. There are roads where the removal of cat’s eyes has created mini potholes between the replacement cat’s eyes. Fortunately, the position of these mini potholes means they’re not too affected by traffic - which could make them expand - so they’re more of an eyesore than something that could potentially cause a puncture!)

West Sussex County Council has reported that the severe weather and temperature

Potholes on the A24 (©AAH) changes have sparked an influx of pothole reports. WSCC says about 25,500 potholes needed filling for safety reasons from April to December 2022, compared to 30,000 for the same period in 2021. However, in just the first 11 days of January 2023, the highways teams received 2,500 pothole or carriagewayrelated enquiries from the public. The total number for the whole of January 2022 was only 1,400 enquiries.

Matt Davey, the County Council’s Assistant Director of Highways, Transport and Planning, said: ‘In November and December, our Highways teams received our secondhighest number of pothole reports on record. Unfortunately, roads are not permanent structures: they deteriorate over time from constant use, the weight of vehicles using them and the effects of weather, resulting in new potholes. Older roads, potentially with small cracks, can be impacted by changes in temperature. West Sussex has experienced one of the hottest summers, then mild/wet weather, then the very cold snap from 6 - 15 December, followed by more wet weather, sometimes with flooding. These fluctuations combine to cause road surfaces to expand/contract and expand again, potentially causing further cracks and new potholes to form.’

‘We understand that potholes are a source of frustration for all road users and we will investigate people’s concerns so we can prioritise repairing those which meet the safety criteria as quickly as possible.’

From April to December 2022, WSCC says that 145km of road (across the county) were either completely resurfaced or had surface dressing or micro-asphalt treatments, representing an investment of £8.1m. It is also taking ‘a holistic approach’ to the condition of roads, with larger sections completely resurfaced on a priority basis to make them more resilient to potholes, reducing the need for small-scale repairs, which can cause disruption.

However, one of the strange things about potholes is that, no matter how many are patched-up, they never seem to fix the ones we hit every day! The County Council reminds us that it is responsible for around 2,500 miles of road. A and B roads are ordinarily inspected monthly, C-class and main distributor roads on a three or sixmonthly basis and declassified roads are typically inspected annually.

In a statement, WSCC says that the best way to get one fixed is to report it on a new online form. ‘The best way for residents to bring potholes to our Highways staff’s attention is directly, via our new e-form. There’s no longer the necessity to download an app, the online maps are easier to use, with greater levels of detail so Highways staff can more easily locate and investigate issues. We have also improved our updates so that the information residents receive is more frequent and detailed.’ www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/ report-a-pothole-online/