3 ms·

> The material could be scaled up for use on British roads in a couple of years, the researchers believe. As per usual these optimistic solutions are inhibited

> The material could be scaled up for use on British roads in a couple of years, the researchers believe. As per usual these optimistic solutions are inhibited by cost. All municipalities that I’ve lived in have ignored potholes until the complainants become a choir. It is always cheaper this way.

vasco 2y ago
Cheaper only because you're subsidizing the cost of the road (by delaying maintenance) from the pocket of the road users which will now collectively have to do maintenance on the car slightly sooner on average, with some people getting the brunt of it if they have an actual accident that requires immediate repair. In some worse cases it even makes a road much slower to traverse in order to deal with the constant bumps, basically returning to the quality of a gravel road, which also has potential economic impacts on "trade".
- tsimionescu 2y ago
  That's a very weird use of "subsidizing" there. The corect view is that the local government is subsidizing the maintenance of cars by investing some of its money in making the roads better. Government subsidies like this can absolutely be important and useful, especially if a majority of the population drives, but they should always be looked at conservatively and minimized when possible.
MarcelOlsz 2y ago
I single-handedly got the mayor of my small town to fill in a bunch of potholes on a road leading to my parents place. I have an old car and while the suspension is great, it's destroyed the bottom of my car and multiple valences costing me a lot since it sits so low. I started calling the mayor every single day and we ended up talking for a few hours. Nothing got done until I distributed flyers and went knocking on every single home along my route to my parents on that shitty road and got everyone to call him whenever they could. The road got fixed and has stayed that way. The grand irony is that the hill is so steep that the only way I managed to get up it was with those potholes. Now I have to take the long 5km route around every time because my car can't make it up this smooth dirt road in the winter now as my car is sub-1000 kilos. I think the gas and lost-parts cost has now evened out at least!
- thumbletown 2y ago
  Could the mayor have been better focusing their time and efforts on broader issues, rather than just to stop a bunch of people from repeatedly calling him?
  - MarcelOlsz 2y ago
    Probably not seeing as the roads are abysmal and there's only a few hundred people here.
  - thatguy0900 2y ago
    How much time and effort do you think it takes the mayor himself to authorize a crew to repair potholes? He's not going to go do it himself. Hopefully the government will already know how much it costs to repair a given length of road.
consp 2y ago
If you do not fill cracks in roads you get potholes. Lack of cheap maintenance causes expensive repairs and reduces the lifespan of a road. Typical shortsightedness. If you see black lines in an asphalt road (which are not straight) the odds are good you have a municipality which does maintenance.
- bcraven 2y ago
  These repairs are never carried out in the UK, crack repair simply isn't a thing over here.

vasco 2y ago

Cheaper only because you're subsidizing the cost of the road (by delaying maintenance) from the pocket of the road users which will now collectively have to do maintenance on the car slightly sooner on average, with some people getting the brunt of it if they have an actual accident that requires immediate repair. In some worse cases it even makes a road much slower to traverse in order to deal with the constant bumps, basically returning to the quality of a gravel road, which also has potential economic impacts on "trade".

tsimionescu 2y ago
That's a very weird use of "subsidizing" there. The corect view is that the local government is subsidizing the maintenance of cars by investing some of its money in making the roads better. Government subsidies like this can absolutely be important and useful, especially if a majority of the population drives, but they should always be looked at conservatively and minimized when possible.

MarcelOlsz 2y ago

I single-handedly got the mayor of my small town to fill in a bunch of potholes on a road leading to my parents place. I have an old car and while the suspension is great, it's destroyed the bottom of my car and multiple valences costing me a lot since it sits so low. I started calling the mayor every single day and we ended up talking for a few hours. Nothing got done until I distributed flyers and went knocking on every single home along my route to my parents on that shitty road and got everyone to call him whenever they could. The road got fixed and has stayed that way. The grand irony is that the hill is so steep that the only way I managed to get up it was with those potholes. Now I have to take the long 5km route around every time because my car can't make it up this smooth dirt road in the winter now as my car is sub-1000 kilos. I think the gas and lost-parts cost has now evened out at least!

thumbletown 2y ago
Could the mayor have been better focusing their time and efforts on broader issues, rather than just to stop a bunch of people from repeatedly calling him?
- MarcelOlsz 2y ago
  Probably not seeing as the roads are abysmal and there's only a few hundred people here.
- thatguy0900 2y ago
  How much time and effort do you think it takes the mayor himself to authorize a crew to repair potholes? He's not going to go do it himself. Hopefully the government will already know how much it costs to repair a given length of road.

consp 2y ago

If you do not fill cracks in roads you get potholes. Lack of cheap maintenance causes expensive repairs and reduces the lifespan of a road. Typical shortsightedness. If you see black lines in an asphalt road (which are not straight) the odds are good you have a municipality which does maintenance.

bcraven 2y ago
These repairs are never carried out in the UK, crack repair simply isn't a thing over here.