UK CITIES WITH THE WORST POTHOLE PROBLEMS - INCLUDING LONDON, NOTTINGHAM AND MANCHESTER
New research has shown that drivers and cyclists in Nottingham are most likely to suffer from pothole-ridden roads. The study was carried out by experts at Cycle SOS who looked at Google searches involving phrases such as "pothole complaint" and "pothole complaint letter" over the last year and cross-referenced the numbers with the estimated number of locals in each major UK city.
Lena Farnell, Legal Team Leader at Cycle SOS, said: "Searches related to the topic of potholes have increased by 13 percent, year on year. Residents living in Nottingham appear to make the highest proportion of complaints relating to potholes on the roads, closely followed by those living in Cardiff and Newcastle in third."
The latest data from the Department for Transport revealed that Nottingham will receive over £1.2million for spending on pothole repairs between 2022 and 2025.
Ms Farnell added: "Nottingham is known for being a city with a large distance in cycle lanes, spanning over 482km.
"A 2021 FOI finding, discovered that Nottingham City Council has planned to invest almost £30million in cycling-focused investments between the periods 2022/23.
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"This suggests that there is a considerable demand for cycling within Nottingham and may well explain why searches for pothole complaints are high in the city, given the dangers that potholes pose to cyclists."
The top five of the worst UK cities for potholes are completed by Bristol in fourth place and Manchester in fifth.
At the other end of the table, London sits in the 10th spot just behind Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Liverpool.
Sheffield also made the list in sixth place with motorists being advised to look out for potholes to avoid tyre damage.
The top 10 list in full:
- Nottingham
- Cardiff
- Newcastle
- Bristol
- Manchester
- Sheffield
- Liverpool
- Birmingham
- Edinburgh
- London
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Ms Farnell added that the average surfacing frequency across all types of roads in England and Wales is once every 70 years.
The expert continued: "In England, it is reported to be once every 84 years (2021/22) and in Wales once every 54 years (2021/22), whilst in London, this figure is only once every 31 years.
"The discrepancy in data between resurfacing frequency for principal roads and the rest of the network in all regions continues to highlight how local authorities have to prioritise key travel routes as budgets are not sufficient enough to adequately maintain the whole network."
Whilst potholes are an inconvenience to drivers and may cause significant damage, they are particularly dangerous to cyclists.
Ms Farnell said: "Potholes are particularly dangerous to cyclists as they multiply in number due to the effects of freeze-thaw in winter." The expert, therefore, advised cyclists to not hug the kerb and pay attention to road positioning.
She added: "Good road positioning will keep you away from sunken drains or steeply cambered road edges and will give you more room to manoeuvre around a pothole.
"Swerving out into the road is dangerous. Scan the road far ahead so that you can change your road position gradually if there's a hazard.
"Pothole depth can be hidden by rainwater or the shadow from headlamps or a low sun, so always plan to go around if you can."