Over the years I have driven many thousands of miles, most of these have been commuting from Spalding to Peterborough for the last 38 years using our local roads.
But my main passion is riding and covering many miles on a classic Lambretta.
This is where concern is the greatest for me and many like-minded road users.
Our local and roads in the United Kingdom are getting worse, the potholes are getting bigger, and for a supposedly rich nation our roads are getting an embarrassment.
Local councils are taking the temporary fix attitude, these actions are no more lasting than a temporary tattoo applied just before bath time.
Of course, we all ride at speeds that conditions allow, but hit one of these potholes, often seen at the last minute, and we are talking of damaged suspension or buckled wheels, and worse case scenario actually coming off your pride and joy.
In a recent publication of Motor Cycle Trader, an Institute Of Advanced Motorists survey reveals over 64 per cent of those questioned were extremely concerned about general road maintenance.
According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, the backlog of repairs now totals £12 billion and the money spent on millions of potholes has been wasted.
Another example of the Government’s “temporary fix” attitude towards our roads is the dreaded “smart motorway” turning the hard shoulder into a lane of traffic is no solution to overcrowded roads.
But by improving public transport, making sure train companies don’t overcharge for tickets and getting more people off the road onto the rails would be a better way forward for the long term.
Yet this would require investment, and a government is only guaranteed to be in power for five years at the most, and none of them really want to look too far ahead, do they?
I can recall when we paid a road tax for your vehicle, the profits of which were spent on the roads, then this was changed and it became the Vehicle Excise Duty.
Presumably said politicians were unlikely to have been thinking beyond the next election, winning votes by siphoning cash from pot A to pot B, no doubt more important to them than the fact our roads would deteriorate in the future, especially with the volumes of traffic getting greater.
Considering our local housing development, I have no problem with the need for housing and the right house in the right place.
But hundreds of new homes will bring a few thousand more cars onto our local rural roads with no infrastructure being implemented.
Just look at the A16 and how this has deteriorated in such a short period of time.
The mistakes have been made here and a dual carriageway is now urgently required to deal with the increased volumes of traffic. Spalding and the surrounding areas in Lincolnshire need a modern day gateway to the A1 and beyond.
So how do we persuade governments and local councils to think beyond their personal shelf life of four and five years and invest in long-term travel solutions for the whole country?
Because if they don’t fix the roads problem soon there will be even more serious incidents to come on our roads and the current statistics are an ongoing concern for all.
Rodney Sadd
Lynx Lambretta Club member
Carrington Road
Spalding
