Lambeth Pothole Crisis

12.05.00pm GMT Thu 4th Feb 2010

As the winter snow and ice recedes numerous Lambeth residential roads, already in poor condition, have been left pockmarked and debris-strewn like the surface of the moon, say opposition Lib Dem Councillors.

Such is the crisis of road potholes being reported by members of the public and councillors that Labour-run Lambeth reckons it will now be Spring before they finally get on top of all these emergency repairs.

Normally large dangerous potholes are repaired within 24 hours of being reported but the sheer scale of disrepair across the borough is such that many deep potholes will be left unfilled for up to three months!

Motorists will doubtless complain at the damage to their tyres and suspension systems but it is cyclists and motorcyclists who have the most to fear from the current outbreak of craters in the normally smooth tarmac. A large pothole can easily buckle a wheel or burst a tyre on a bicycle. Cyclists can also be thrown from their bikes - perhaps under the wheels of a passing car or HGV.

The situation can be made much worse at night and in bad weather when a pothole can be easily missed by poor street lighting conditions or if the cyclist is dazzled by the lights of oncoming vehicles. A motorcyclist is also vulnerable if they swerve to avoid a large pothole.

Cycling Lib Dem Councillor Rob Banks said, "Usually I can dodge the odd Lambeth pothole on my way to work or down to the Town Hall but some roads now are simply terrible - I'll have to swap for a Mountain Bike soon."

Lambeth has said that such is the scale of the problem that it is prioritising main distributor roads first and will deal with residential roads afterwards but that the whole programme could take many months.

Lambeth also says that it will respond to Councillor or resident requests about dangerous potholes sooner and patch them up. Trouble is that some roads in the borough now have so many potholes that it is hard to find some decent road surface to attach the patches to.