NSW the Pothole Nation

[mick taylor]

Here now I have driven from Brisbane QLD to Canberra last week 3000KM in all driving and nothing but potholes most a Ft deep and all.

I think that the NSW Crest should be a huge pothole ! I said to my wife and she agreed, I was driving her car !

We would come across warning signs of stuff that was just nothing like where were had driven through. Not to mention the all the idiot signage that meant nothing at all, driving along at reduced speed for so long for nothing at all worth f all !
But road workers patching with no signage at all at times, just out of the blue !

And the speed cameras were everywhere like blow fly's, one place has speed limits for wet weather ? 60km/h in the wet and 80 in dry, now what is deemed wet ? raining ? what is that poring ? drizzle, Fairy's ? how can you prove it was not wet ?
If they deem it wet well I am up for about 25 over 20KM/H fines easy.

If they were truly serious about road safety, they would be better off putting speed camera people on pot hole work, seriously !

I tell you what, I am good at dodging pot holes but I coped a few badly, thank God that I did not take my car down or all 4 wheels would be destroyed and maybe a few tires.

[ozrunner]

Originally Posted by mick taylor

............. , one place has speed limits for wet weather ? 60km/h in the wet and 80 in dry, now what is deemed wet ? raining ? what is that poring ? drizzle, Fairy's ? how can you prove it was not wet ?
If they deem it wet well I am up for about 25 over 20KM/H fines easy.

Fixed speeds for these reasons would be impossible to police. You sure these weren't just "recommended or advisory" speed signs and a different colour in which case they're only recommended speeds etc.

[Franco Cozzo]

I reckon Manning Valley region in mid north coast NSW wins the award for most potholes per square kilometre, worst roads in the country by FAR.

That whole region is like driving on the ****ing moon, no wonder everyone rocking the 79 series Land Cruiser up there to go to the shops. You just about need Russian T90 tank if those roads deteriorate any further.

If you want to complain about speed cameras then drive around Melbourne

[LG17]

Hold my beer!


The South Burnett area in Qld has far and away consistently the best potholes anywhere.
It matters not if it's a highway (I use that term very loosely), major or minor council road or a dirt track that they call a road. Recently all the councillors, mayor, CEO and heads and senior members of roads portfolio took a 2 day bus tour around the area and only got about halfway through. The deputy mayor who has the portfolio of roads is in hiding and won't talk to or acknowledge anyone. They don't have enough signs to put up to warn us of the impending doom as we try to drive along.

[lra]

Having driven from Ipswich to Sydney with the last 2 weeks, via the Pacific H'way, and regularly Sydney to Canberra via the Hume, I don't understand what the problem would be.
But if you used the New England or Newell, well, that is just asking for trouble, and predictable considering the rain and floods.
The Logan M'way and Gold Coast M1, are just a congested long car park, and you should get a two minute warning of any pothole ahead, they are that slow.

[fiestaz]

Perhaps think that all those pot holes are from the constant rain we are having.

As for the rest, do the speed limit and you’ll be fine.

[Top_Ghia]

I thought our local Victorian roads were bad until a recent ride into the NSW high country. The dirt roads were in great condition despite the rain. But the sealed roads were straight out of the third world. There were pot holes wider than the entire lane.
Luckily I was on an adventure bike with long suspension travel as a sports bike would have been destroyed.
No wonder the new Raptor is so popular. You need it for our crap roads.

[Giant Cranium]

the putty roads potholes have dicks drawn around them

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by fiestaz

Perhaps think that all those pot holes are from the constant rain we are having.

Once you leave the city it's before and after any rain.

As for the rest, do the speed limit and you’ll be fine.

[Trevor 57]

We went to Fraser Island QLD from Central Victoria in September, we felt the Newell etc (mostly NSW) was that bad that we came back via Brisbane and Sydney - bugger all time difference and freeway most of the way, just a few $ for tolls

[FTE217]

With the amount of rain the last couple of years and constant traffic surburbia and main regional hwys councils can’t keep up - repairs done next week raining again.


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[Mesa]

The further you travel into regional NSW the worse the condition of the roads are. Sections of road missing, large potholes, ruts, most of which are hiding in the middle of/or around corners. Got me stumped why anyone would ride a motorcycles on NSW regional roads.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by FTE217

With the amount of rain the last couple of years and constant traffic surburbia and main regional hwys councils can’t keep up - repairs done next week raining again.


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Any State Highway is the responsibility of the State Government

Any Federal Highway (e.g. the Newell) is the responsibility of the Federal Government

Much has been done to improve the road between Sydney and Brisbane since I was last on it, but the Newell (major Highway linking Melbourne and Brisbane, a major transport route) has gone backwards significantly, yes there has been flooding impact on parts of the Highway, but it is in a terrible state. I dunno how the truckies put up with it

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by Mesa

The further you travel into regional NSW the worse the condition of the roads are. Sections of road missing, large potholes, ruts, most of which are hiding in the middle of/or around corners. Got me stumped why anyone would ride a motorcycles on NSW regional roads.

Many State Governments are city centric, ours is no different. They need to remember the bits outside the capital city borders. Of course the swinging seat will get looked after - they are all the same on this front

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

Many State Governments are city centric, ours is no different. They need to remember the bits outside the capital city borders. Of course the swinging seat will get looked after - they are all the same on this front

Yeah seems in Vic if you live outside a 20-30 km radius of the CBD you are deemed to be living in some foreign state,therefore not entitled to any funding or services.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

Yeah seems in Vic if you live outside a 20-30 km radius of the CBD you are deemed to be living in some foreign state,therefore not entitled to any funding or services.

This happens in most states. Here most state Pollies think that NSW means Newcastle Sydney and Wollongong.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

I think some of you guys are being a bit unfairly harsh on the poor buggers trying to keep our roads in a half decent condition. Like FTE said, there's been that much rain and water around that the poor buggers just have a chance to get out there to do some interim repairs, and the next rain event is on top of them and they're back to square one again. And, let's be honest, with all the poor buggers that have bene flooded over the last twelve months or so, there's probably higher priorities than fixing the roads.

Did the road trip up to Bathurst and back. By far the worst road on that trip was the stretch between Sutton and Gundaroo. I swear there was more potholes than there was bitumen! The road was very busy, so I was glad to just follow a few other cars so that I could see when they were swerving to miss something. They were my spotters.

Gundaroo must be a tourist destination, as there were around a hundred cars parked in Gundaroo, and little traffic afterwards. The condition of the roads improved markedly after that, too.

Came home along the Abercombie Road / Taralga Road between Porter's retreat and Traralga. That road had some sections where the roads were pitted with potholes. Other sections were fine. Had a couple of motorcyclists pass me along that section. Not sure I'd be liking to do that with the roads in the condition they were in spots.

Was lucky to get across the Abercombe River as the crossing was closed due to flooding. Copper came up the hill as I was discussing options with a couple of caravaners and said the road was open. Would have been a 150km detour otherwise!

[Citroënbender]

Which nation, is it the Bentaloi?

Edit, per FG-X’s post; from memory the Gundaroo pub is a popular destination.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

Did the road trip up to Bathurst and back. By far the worst road on that trip was the stretch between Sutton and Gundaroo. I swear there was more potholes than there was bitumen! The road was very busy, so I was glad to just follow a few other cars so that I could see when they were swerving to miss something. They were my spotters.

we left Bathurst at about 6.30 am Monday morning, we got to that one lane bridge and had to wait patiently for the traffic control traffic lights to do their 4 minute cycle, in the meantime, 4000 (not quite, but anyway . . . .) vehicles lined up behind us and 1 (one) vehicle coming from the opposite direction. A bit further down the road they had actual real live traffic control people controlling traffic. Obviously much more traffic south and than heading north. IMHO, it would have been wise to turn off the lights at the one lane bridge and had real live traffic control people controlling traffic to stop the backlog.

I did hear later that there was a pretty much a standstill of traffic between Bathurst and Cowra

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0

I think some of you guys are being a bit unfairly harsh on the poor buggers trying to keep our roads in a half decent condition.

I certainly don't blame the workers, the responsibility sits squarely with the Governments to free up the money to make **** happen

[T3rminator]

Civil engineer mate said you need to rip up all the layers and start fresh if you want to fix the root cause rather than patch up. Something to do with drainage and our extreme weather fluctuations. Patch up jobs won't last.

Its going to cost the eastern states a shed loads of money. You can't leave the roads as they are until the conditions are perfect to do a completely rip and fix. They are death traps. So govs will have to spend hundreds of millions $$$ to patch up, then redo it again properly when the conditions are right.

In the mean time, might be an idea to get some 15" steelies for the big trips.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

In the mean time, might be an idea to get some 15" steelies for the big trips.

My son destroyed a tyre on the way to Bathurst, he was surprised his rim came out unscathed

[GasoLane]

An engineer I spoke to many moons ago said that they build roads suitable for cars and let Trucks drive on them, when it should be the other way around.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

Civil engineer mate said you need to rip up all the layers and start fresh if you want to fix the root cause rather than patch up. Something to do with drainage and our extreme weather fluctuations. Patch up jobs won't last.

Its going to cost the eastern states a shed loads of money. You can't leave the roads as they are until the conditions are perfect to do a completely rip and fix. They are death traps. So govs will have to spend hundreds of millions $$$ to patch up, then redo it again properly when the conditions are right.

In the mean time, might be an idea to get some 15" steelies for the big trips.

If all the fuel excise and tax money went into roads (where it rightly should all be spent)Eastern Aust especially would have really good roads,not half arsed goat tracks

[.:4:.]

With all the rain for aslong as its been, pretty much most roads in my suburban area are riddled with potholes. When ever theres been a couple dry days they patch them but the patches dont hold up long when it rains for days on end again. My council for example, way back when when it didnt rain constantly and pot holes were not a common occurance, theyd cut out a section of road around it and do a propper job. Now, because theyre everywhere in the windows of opportunity they just fill one and move to the next. I do not blame the council as they didnt create the problem, theyre scrambling to fill the things.

[fiestaz]

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

I certainly don't blame the workers, the responsibility sits squarely with the Governments to free up the money to make **** happen

It’s all well and good to free up funds but fixes don’t happen overnight no matter how efficient we are. Repairs will always take time.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

An engineer I spoke to many moons ago said that they build roads suitable for cars and let Trucks drive on them, when it should be the other way around.

that is really evident over in the west of Victoria, the wheat belt. The roads are shyte, and with the advent of road trains, sorry A-Doubles into Victoria things are only going to get worse on the B and C class roads

I like the NSW idea of concrete for the majors, it makes sense, mind you small parts of the concrete Hume are pretty shyte

[Citroënbender]

My father was working for the DMR when it was (internally?) lambasted and redirected for the fault of “building roads to last a hundred years”. The fallout from this intervention included some of the slab constructions which were laid over inadequately prepared bases and ever since remained bumpy, noisy.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

I certainly don't blame the workers, the responsibility sits squarely with the Governments to free up the money to make **** happen

My 'poor buggers' comment wasn't just aimed at the people that are out on the roads effecting the repairs. There's a whole network of people that sit behind the scene to make that system work. Planners, schedulers, procurement, etc.

Originally Posted by fiestaz

It’s all well and good to free up funds but fixes don’t happen overnight no matter how efficient we are. Repairs will always take time.

Precisely. It's going to take more than just throwing money at this to fix it. And where do you take the money from to fund it? Raise taxes/fees/levies? From the health care system? From flood recovery? Imagine the uproar! It's easy for us in the peanut gallery to identify the issue and the fix, but effecting it is something quite different.

[Tonz]

on Eyre Peninsula the state gov decided to help close the grain handling railway. thus adding X number of road trains on our roads.
The land is mostly clay so instead of ripping up a stretch of road and placing a solid base down, they just pack more clay.
We have a passing lane that has been under reconstruction for just on 2 years this week and still nit finished.
ack down clay, occasionally wet it down, la Blackstone and within 3 weeks chunks are flying through the air again.
local polies seem to have disappeared. granted liberal members and Labor state & federal gov.
God help us when the biggest harvest ever starts in few weeks.
there is 3 lots around here all the same.
what an aimazing waste of $$$