To take fairly large liberties with, if not to massacre, one of the famous Shakespearean quotes - "To be or not to be a pothole" - that is the question.
Well it would seem that the answer to this question depends on which Greater Manchester borough you live in.
Having had discussions with various cyclists and council officers it seems that despite having a Greater Manchester wide travel authority there is no common agreement of when a 'sharp edge trip' is a pothole and when it becomes 'actionable' e.g. meets the criteria to be repaired.
Each Council uses its own assessment criteria which also takes into account where the pothole is located (busy street or quiet backstreet) etc. But one of the main criteria is how long the 'sharp edge trip' is - or in other words, how deep is the pothole. Basically a pothole in Salford has to be twice the size of a Wigan pothole before being repaired (see details below).
Sharp edge trip Council
50mm Salford
40mm Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford
35mm Rochdale
30mm Manchester (* see update below).
25mm Wigan
It seems strange that one Council can class a pothole 25mm deep as 'actionable' (read potentially dangerous) and yet same pothole would not be repaired by any of the other nine Greater Manchester councils.
Isn't it time we had a common criteria for repairing (dangerous) potholes across all roads in Greater Manchester?
* Update: A race to the bottom ?
A report to the Manchester City Council 'Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee' on 16th November 2010 detailed how:
"With effect from 30th November 2009, Highway Inspectors are required to record and action footway defects deeper than 20mm and carriageway defects deeper than 30mm on busy City Centre Streets and at well usedcrossing points elsewhere in the City, but the intervention level for all other highway locations is 25mm in the footway and 40mm in the carriageway. Prior to this date the intervention level had been 20mm and 30mm for footways and carriageways respectively throughout the whole of the City. The intervention levels adopted by the Greater Manchester Districts are all slightly different however, the decision to slacken Manchester’s levels brings them more in line with the values used by the other districts. The change also means that expenditure on the repair of defects is not being incurred any sooner than is necessary to offer a defence against accident claims." (Page 31) [Emphasis added].
Definitely a move in the wrong direction.....
Sunday, 8 March 2009
A month (and a bit) in the life of a pothole
Potholes, as any cyclist or pedestrian will tell you, can be fairly unpleasant if not downright dangerous.
The Manchester City Council policy is that if a sharp edge trip (potholes in local council speak) is "actionable" it will be repaired within 10 working days.
The photo(s) are of a fairly serious pothole on Stretford Road just down from Rolls Crescent, travelling towards Chorlton Road.
Now, I don't normally cycle that close to the kerb, but having been forced in towards the kerb by a rather unfriendly car driver I found myself having to brake and swerve to avoid this rather large hole.
Not wishing others to face the same problem, I reported the pothole to Manchester City Council, via the Environment on Call email service on 5th February 2009.
The report was logged and on the 6th February I was informed that the "Highways Inspector will visit the area within 3 working days."
Noticing that nothing had happened by 20th February I emailed again asking for an update on progress. Again the response was that "The Highways Inspector will visit the area within 3 working days."
On the 23rd February an email arrived that stated the "work to repair the pot hole has been ordered, it should be completed by the end of today (23 February)."
Nothing having happened by the time I cycled home on the 25th February, I emailed again and received the slightly different response that the "Highways Inspector will contact you by the end of the next working day."
By the 3rd March, the pothole had acquired a plywood board and four traffic cones which at least made it safer. Unfortunately, by the 4th March the plywood board had either broken or had been "borrowed" for other purposes. But at least the cones remained.
The pothole was finally repaired on Saturday 7th March - which is 26 working days (including Saturdays) after it was first reported. I never did receive any notification from the Highways Inspector but I live in hope.
You can (and should) report potholes in Manchester roads by contacting:
Environment On Call
Email: contact@manchester.gov.uk
Pink Bank Lane, Level 2, Manchester. M12 5QN
Tel: 0161 954 9000
Fax: 0161 274 7182
or via the Manchester City Council website reporting form.
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