I've just returned from Gran Canaria and was very impressed with the standard of the roads and lack of trafffic on them, particularly the motorway standard autovias.
I'm led to believe this is a result of EU funding.
I've visited Portugese territory and noticed a similar, vast improvement in their infrastructure after acceptance into the EU.
So why do we have to tolerate such poor highway standards when the UK is a major contributor to EU funds?
We now have Greece being propped up by EU funding and it looks like Portugal may be the first of other countries to follow.
I may have to find a candidate in favour of leaving the EU when I enter my X tomorrow.
|
The EU's done its bit over here but (maybe like in Spain) most of the money went to remote/poorer places.
I first visited the Outer Hebrides in 1984. The road from Stornoway to Tarbert was twisty, single track and took well over an hour to negotiate.
It's now two way all the way, climbs the over the edge of Toddun on sweeping curves and the journey takes about 40minutes.
|
why are foreign roads better than ours,
Well they're certailnlynot all better than ours. One of our closest neighbours, Belgium has fairly poor roads, certainly the motorway surfaces are on average well below the UK. Portugese and Spanish roads are bad once you get away from major highways. The main problem with UK roads is the congestion, not the quality of the road, which by and large have reasonable surfaces and better signage than most of the rest of Europe
|
>>The main problem with UK roads is the congestion, not the quality of the road, which by and large have reasonable surfaces and better signage than most of the rest of Europe
Ah yes the signage. I have to agree with you there. I think we spent more time being lost than actually knowing where we were. It seems you had to know the area intimately to know exactly which road you wanted and this was after buying a map locally (2008 printed, the most recent I could find).
|
"the quality of the road, which by and large have reasonable surfaces"
Don't agree I'm afraid - smoothness of surfaces is (except in rare cases) much better on the continent. We seem to be unable to lay flat tarmac even on new stretches of road (A1 Wetherby? M1 Luton South? M1 Nottingham North?). In addition on "minor" roads, we seem to prefer to spray a layer of tar and then bung some gravel on top; which does nothing to smooth out bumps and dips; and is a technique rarely used on the continent. We always remark on how much more quietly and smoothly our car runs in France (and Germany, Austria etc - but not Belgium!) - but it's not the car, its the surface. Our roads are now nearly as good as Yugoslavia in the '70s/'80s - and they were really, really carp. And as for concrete sections (eg A50 Uttoxeter - Stoke, M180, M18 etc) they are unspeakably uneven and noisy - and the spray when wet - awful.
All IMHO of course - (but I did do about 70k in UK and 12k in France last year!)
|
>> >>better signage than most of the rest
>> of Europe
>>
>> Ah yes the signage. I have to agree with you there. I think we spent
>> more time being lost than actually knowing where we were.
France seems to be the worst of the North European countries in that respect... I always seem to suffer from "signage overload" when over there... even small villages seem to be covered in them!
|
|
Although I enjoyed driving on parts of the western US road network a few weeks ago, I was surprised at the state of a lot of the interstates I drove on in California. They reminded of the worst of the UK roads following the snow earlier this year - perhaps they have suffered from similar weather (or US equivalent)?
|
|
Was in Nova Scotia last year and if you think we have a problem with potholes you ain't seen nothing! Their problem is that the winters tend to be a succession of cold spells and thaws which play havoc with road surfaces.
|
It must be a few years back now but I remember when the M25 opened around Jnc. 7 & 8 - the stretch going past the M23 and Reigate. That was my first experience of the ultra smooth/quiet road surface - a very weird sensation of tyre noise suddenly disappearing and just being left with a swooshing of the wind and a feint engine noise.
I haven't been on it for a while so I don't know if it's still as quiet but the only roads I have driven on that have been as smooth have been Autoroutes in France. The relatively new A120 dual carriageway between Stansted and Braintree was an opportunity missed for smoothness - there has been some pretty bad subsidence in several places and the resulting repair work has left it looking like a patchwork. Pretty shoddy work from the original contractor.
On the nearby A12 they have been running a trial on the old concrete sections where they have cut parallel grooves into the surface in the direction of travel. The difference that makes to smoothness (and noise reduction) is incredible - it'll be interesting to see if it is extended.
|
|
Because they're not built for political reasons;A12 goes up thro' East Anglia(Staunch Conservative) and it's all winding single carriageway.Now in the North East or wilds of Wales-miles of deserted dual-carriageway.
|
Wales-miles of deserted dual-carriageway.
I'd be interested to know where they are ! Since moving up here found the A55 to be a perfectly horribly road.
Last edited by: Pugugly on Thu 6 May 10 at 09:46
|
>>In addition on "minor" roads, we seem to prefer to spray a layer of tar and then bung some gravel on top; which does nothing to smooth out bumps and dips; and is a technique rarely used on the continent.<<
Sadly, 'top dressing' as a cut-price alternative to proper maintenance, is catching on fast in some parts of rural France - don't know about anywhere else. Around here they always seem to do it in high summer as well, with predictable results. One stretch near me had to be re-done twice a couple of years ago and it's still like a washboard.
Last winter (which still isn't over - there was snow near me yesterday) the weather was so bad that many roads are now in a very bad state with major potholes, especially the main roads and autoroutes that carry a lot of lorry traffic.
Now that French taxpayers' money is being poured into Greece, in a bid to prop up the French banks and pensions system already hugely into Greek government bonds, I guess spending on proper road maintenance will be an early victim for the chop.
|
|
Held up for 40 mins on a road over the course noir while they did a spray/grit session. There are still bits of French gravel stuck to the Xantia's wheelarches.
|
>> Now in the North East ...-miles of deserted dual-carriageway.
>>
Again, I'd like to know where. The A1 is still single track from Morpeth to the Scottish border with only short dual passing places and the Alnwick by-pass.
|
I'm led to believe this is a result of EU funding.
>>>>
>>>>>yes i agree
and new train links like france to barcelona,cant believe this is privately funded either
|
.. On the nearby A12 they have been running a trial on the old concrete sections where thry have cut parallel grooves into the surface in the direction of travel..
I'd like to see that extended too. I have regularly driven to Scotland for holidays in the past, and if all the roads leading there were like the A12, I wouldn't do it. Its always the most depressing part. Coming home, entering the Essex border, and driving the last few miles in a cacaphony of noise.
I watched a program about how German Autobahns are built, and the engineering is much more thorough, the sub base is twice the depth of motorways here, so they remain flat for longer. Of course, it wouldn't happen here, it's all based on saving money. It's just lucky that we've still got victorian engineered bridges to rely on that are still going strong. How many times have they paid for themselves because the engineering was sound in the first place? Built to last, there's a lot to be said for it.
|
A lot of US Interstates are pretty rough
Just about every expressway in the Chicago area has been rebuilt and widened over the past 6 years so they are in good shape now.
They also do a lot less overall road work here. And are much faster than I remember in the UK when they do do it.
|
We drive on the left and that wears out the left side of the road. They drive on the right so the left side of the road never gets worn out.
;-)
|
|
In France the toll roads are good, but only because they're toll roads. Going more than about 300km will cost you about €50. Even 2 hours to the border will set you back more than €15.
|
|
In Perth (Australia) they built a new motorway. AFter a few years it was more up and down than the roller coaster of death at disneyland. They had to dump thousand of tons of sand in huge high sand dunes either side of the carriagway to try and flatten the land.
|
Appears you'll be able to blame the Spanish for the state of UK roads in future:
"Ferrovial has signed a contract worth 3.1 billion € with Birmingham City Hall to maintain the roads in the city for the next 25 years. It’s the largest private finance contract in the U.K. and will see heavy investment in the first five years in the repairing of pavements, lighting and traffic signals."
Although given Ferrovial's performance in the guise of BAA - good luck
|
Why are foreign roads better than ours? - Bromptonaut
