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The downside of road improvements!
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roz


Posts: 1,796
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #1
16-01-2011 12:37 PM

We had a notice hastily pushed through our door last week about re surfacing this week and hence everyone had to quickly move their cars, and also reschedule deliveries, repair men etc as no one could reliably access the road during working hours. That ok you might think however it has meant no rubbish collection now for two weeks as only the recycling vehicle arrived before the 8am start on Wednesday. In addition the work took a lot longer than scheduled ie for almost 4 whole days. I would have thought there could have been a bit of cross referencing on the Councils part as effectively many of the bins in our road could have been wheeled to either end for collection from a neighbouring street or that a collection was rescheduled.

The Council in some sort of wisdom has marked out areas for the hump replacement which is fine apart from the fact that they seem to have inserted new zig zag lines leading up to the hump locations. We have worked out that this reduces available car parking by 6-8 vehicles, perhaps more. If anyone knows for certain that we can still park on those lines it would be helpful, otherwise the Council seem to have been a bit lax on consultation on this point. I would have thought that residents should have been consulted on such changes. Added to which I have never seen any examples locally of these zig zag markings around road humps, so wonder why a no parking zone around them is suddenly needed.

The whole thing has been a bit of a joke as although there was some road damage in part due to the snow, the road was surfaced only 4 years ago so complete resurfacing again seemed unnecessary. Predictably the vibration of so many heavy vehicles damaged the water mains and we had several leaks and drops in water pressure. In addition we are likely to face further bad weather in the coming months, so spending this money now seems a little premature as I would have thought the end of the budget year was the end of March.

I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies such as Council spending in this current financial climate but some commonsense would have been nice!

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #2
16-01-2011 02:18 PM

A newly surfaced road will not suffer in bad weather. It's water seeping into old holes and fissures (usually around old patched repairs) freezing and expanding that causes the damage.

Are you sure the zigzags are permanent, or could they be temporary markings for something else, indications? We had humps put in on our road about a year ago. There are no parking restrictions leading up to any of those humps. Indeed, we can park ON the humps if we want (they are quite shallow) - there are no white lines indicating otherwise. You would need parking restrictions around the humps if they are located at or near pinch points, however.

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Applespider


Posts: 285
Joined: Feb 2006
Post: #3
16-01-2011 02:53 PM

We have humps in our road which appear to have no restrictions about parking on/over from observation. But when we tried to apply for a dropped kerb to our property, it was turned down because it was within x feet of a hump and would be a safety issue.

The fact that the dropped kerb would stop someone parking on or around the hump and therefore take an extra car off the road/improve visibility seemed to be disregarded.

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #4
16-01-2011 03:42 PM

It's getting in and out of your drive that's the problem. We have a hump very near our dropped kerb and we have to swing over into the 'wrong' side of the road to avoid it when turning in, or come at it from a very shallow angle, which isn't possible when there are parked cars. If we go over the hump as we turn, it throws the car off at an odd angle unless we handle it carefully. There were a few dodgy moments until we got used to it and visitors to our house still find it an interesting challenge.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #5
16-01-2011 05:12 PM

I am very much against dropped kerbs. Gardens are for flowers and to make drainage after heavy rain easier.
Why do LBC santion such desecration of our environment.
Shame on them

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #6
16-01-2011 05:16 PM

I have a drive and a front garden. Is that okay with you, Brian?

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andrewr


Posts: 296
Joined: May 2006
Post: #7
16-01-2011 05:50 PM

Humps are now usually marked with a single line either side at an angle to the kerb. Is this what roz means by zigzags? If so, then there is no problem parking on them. It's only the zigzags at pedestrian crossings that stop parking - they are totally different. I can't find any reference to the hump markings but you can find the details of zigzags in The Traffic Signs General Regulations 2002. Look in the section on Road Markings. This document makes fascinating reading for those without a life!

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #8
16-01-2011 06:22 PM

In answer to Mr Dunlop

If house built with a drive fine but looks really ugly if imposed on Victorian and Edwardian houses.

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #9
16-01-2011 06:29 PM

Mr Dunlop? It's actually Dr Dunlop, but of which gender I decline to say.

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #10
16-01-2011 06:31 PM

Apologies to Roz. Nothing worse than a hijacked thread.

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Merlin


Posts: 83
Joined: May 2010
Post: #11
18-01-2011 09:15 PM

The road I live in has recently been resurfaced - it was a bit inconvenient at the time, but is like driving on velvet now (not that I've ever driven on actual velvet, but you get the picture!) The only downside is the humps appear much smaller than before so the traffic doesn't slow down for them which is the whole idea. Doubt I'll be hearing the crunch of a speed freaks exhaust anymore!

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IWereAbsolutelyFuming


Posts: 531
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #12
19-01-2011 09:06 AM

If anyone is unsatisfied with their newly resurfaced road then feel free to melt the tarmac down and use it to re-lay Taymount Rise.

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mljay


Posts: 80
Joined: Mar 2007
Post: #13
19-01-2011 09:40 AM

it seems that some people are never happy - even when they are getting the benefit of a nice new road surface

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Merlin


Posts: 83
Joined: May 2010
Post: #14
19-01-2011 01:10 PM

1 - the surface is fantastic (like driving on velvet)
2 - the reduction/removal of a speed deterrent has a safety implication

Profuse apologies for caring about road safety and lives

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