Holey London

piers2210 · 04-03-2009, 02:39 PM

Is there any other city in the world with as many holes in the road as London?

The Beatles sang about the holes in the road over 40 years ago, and it seems that nothing has changed.

We had the diplomatic Olympiad here in London this week, with Gordon Brown masquerading as superman, the "last chance to save the world"....and it was incredible that one of the diplomatic limos didn't disappear down one of London's current 40,000 road holes....

London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, last year stated "Londoners are sick and tired of sitting in traffic jams caused by enigmatic craters that litter major roads. Its time for a holy war on holey streets".

But nothing actually happened......

The problem goes back to the time of Margaret Thatcher, when the 1991 New Roads And Street Works Act came in. The idea was to expedite the cabling and upgrading of London by the (then) recently privatised utility companies.

These utility companies are a law unto themselves, able to dig up roads at will, and all they have to do is give the local council two hours notice in emergencies and a maximum of 28 days notice on other occasions. The council cannot refuse permission, nor require reprogramming to coordinate with other works. If the utility company takes too long, the maximum fine is £5,000...hardly a deterrent.

One day London will move out of the victorian era and have a city with clear roads......is that just a dream???

Anyone else have stories of other cities which have road works as bad as London?? Or is London the holeyest city in the world??

Will you shed a tear for us Londoners??

Or was that just a crocodile tear??

04-03-2009, 02:39 PM	#1
piers2210 Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 403	Holey London Is there any other city in the world with as many holes in the road as London? The Beatles sang about the holes in the road over 40 years ago, and it seems that nothing has changed. We had the diplomatic Olympiad here in London this week, with Gordon Brown masquerading as superman, the "last chance to save the world"....and it was incredible that one of the diplomatic limos didn't disappear down one of London's current 40,000 road holes.... London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, last year stated "Londoners are sick and tired of sitting in traffic jams caused by enigmatic craters that litter major roads. Its time for a holy war on holey streets". But nothing actually happened...... The problem goes back to the time of Margaret Thatcher, when the 1991 New Roads And Street Works Act came in. The idea was to expedite the cabling and upgrading of London by the (then) recently privatised utility companies. These utility companies are a law unto themselves, able to dig up roads at will, and all they have to do is give the local council two hours notice in emergencies and a maximum of 28 days notice on other occasions. The council cannot refuse permission, nor require reprogramming to coordinate with other works. If the utility company takes too long, the maximum fine is £5,000...hardly a deterrent. One day London will move out of the victorian era and have a city with clear roads......is that just a dream??? Anyone else have stories of other cities which have road works as bad as London?? Or is London the holeyest city in the world?? Will you shed a tear for us Londoners?? Or was that just a crocodile tear??