January and February seem to be the prime months for potholes appearing in our roads. Many of them appear after a winter cold snap freezes water in the tarmac. As water turns to ice it expands in volume and cracks the road surface. Now our roads have never been very good but the current state is worse than I can ever remember. Despite government grants to help pay the costs of effects of bad waether on our roads the council is still struggling to cope. I have certainly received numerous reports of new potholes from Tilehurst residents over the last two months.

Curently the council only orders repairs if a pothole is more than 2″ deep as they try to ensure that the worst potholes are filled in whilst not blowing all the cash on minor holes. The upshot of this policy is that we have numerous potholes that cause bumps to cars travelling over them (and are downright dangerous for cyclists and motorcyclists) and the overall look of our roads is shabby.

The answer would be to spend more on proper fixes and road resurfacing but this is not afforable in the current economic climate. Do keep reporting any new potholes, the council will repair the larger ones. In the meantime the only advice I can give is to drive carefully, and give up on low-slung sports cars.