Kent's Roads Repairs Get Under...Way After the Big Freeze!

As the most terrible freezing conditions and unbelievable snowfalls on record for over 30 years during December 2010, have long since past, it has left the roads that are travelled by thousands of vehicles everyday in a potential life threatening and dangerous situation for all of us who use them.

The incessant thawing and freezing conditions during December have devastated many of the roads in Kent, where the thawed water has penetrated deep into the surface cracks and re-frozen, it has split the tarmac open and deteriorated the roads so badly that massive pot-holes, some centimetres deep and large ones the size of dustbin lids have been found, as well as the edging of the roads have completely broken away from the surface, this destruction to the roads has been found all across the county.

After many years of complaints and severe criticism by residents

Due to this, everyone that uses the roads have found that these are certainly causing havoc and danger to all those who drive any vehicles, motorbikes and cycles on them.

In trying to avoid these "craters" and cracks many drivers and riders have had to take serious evasive action, by swerving to avoid them and putting their lives and others at certain risk.There have been several cars drivers contacting local Council Offices in a desperate need to complain as their vehicles have been damaged by potholes in and around Sevenoaks,Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Edenbridge area's.

If a car hits one of these it will probably cause serious damage to the wheels and tracking and cost the owners a small fortune to repair. For those who ride motorbikes and cycles the danger is far greater and far more serious, if they hit these holes at speed then they could well lose control and be thrown off, causing severe injury or death!

The government has urgently decided to spend over £100, 000, 000 pounds to be given to all local authorities in getting the roads repaired. But many are suggesting that this is far below the cost needed to fill-in the well over 2, 000, 000 pot holes scattered all across the country.

Road and highway experts have suggested that the Government needs to spend a minimum of £9.5 billion pounds to have all the roads in a top condition for all vehicle users!

They also maintain that just patching up the holes is necessary but it is just a quick fix as the layers of new tarmac do not bond securely to that underneath, and more importantly that many major and minor roads should have all the old tarmac stripped off and completely renewed, which would possibly save many millions of pounds in the long term but cost the Government far more that they are willing to spend at this time.


The estimated cost to repair only the major roads in Kent have been estimated to cost in excess of £6, 500, 000, as there are well over 31, 000 dangerous potholes in Kent alone. Each relatively small pot-hole costs an average of £75 to fill-in, hence they have estimated the cost to the taxpayer in Kent that this money will have to be found to pay for the repairs that are now getting underway.

After the big thaw in December, many road repair crews were out in force and started to fill in the most dangerous ones. Although many have now been repaired on the major roads, many thousands have still not been filled-in to the required safety standards of the B roads in Kent, which are still extremely dangerous to drive on, so caution is expected of all drivers in taking note of these while driving, especially those on motorcycles and bicycles. This will become a major challenge for the Kent County Council and The Highways Commision to fulfill in the next few months, as the work they will have to do in making the roads safe for all road users will certainly take time to complete and the many millions of pounds alloted for it. Although work has started in many parts of the county, there is still a vast amount to do, with the road repair crews out daily making good the surface in a hope that all who use them will find driving far more safer than a few weeks ago! But we all hope that for us that use the roads daily, that this work will soon be completed and make all the roads of Kent safer to drive on. The only sensible course of action to take is to drive slower than usual, be alert and scan the road ahead for any pot holes and kerbside subsidence, this should give you time to take the necessary avoidable action...that hopefully will prevent you and other road users from having an accident!