After one year, how effective was the 'pothole killer' at fixing Caithness roads?
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Today's National Pothole Day (January 15), provides a time for Caithness residents to reflect upon the condition of the county's roads and how effective a state-of-the-art machine called the 'pothole killer' has been.
National Pothole Day (NPD) was created in 2015 to raise awareness of the ever-growing pothole problem on UK roads and it is just over a year since Highland Council announced it had bought a special machine dubbed "the pothole killer" for use on Caithness roads.
In January last year, Wick and East Caithness councillor Raymond Bremner announced that Highland Council had bought a JCB Pothole Pro machine for use on the county's roads. Speaking to a meeting of Wick's community council, at that time, he said: "Local workers are being trained to operate the machine and I believe that this will work well with the new hotbox that was purchased earlier.
"Together, I believe this is an additional capital investment of around £200,000. I’m keen that we continue to look at further machinery investment including plant that recycles tar chippings into hot tar and a new fit-for-purpose road planer."
The Pothole Pro combines three machines in one and JCB claims it can repair a pothole in less than eight minutes which is "four times quicker than standard methods and at half the cost of current solutions". The company also states that its "revolutionary" machine has helped carry out 12 years’ worth of repairs in less than two years. Four Scottish councils have armed themselves with the Pothole Pro – Fife, Scottish Borders, North Lanarkshire and Highland – covering more than 10,000 miles of highway.
Despite high hopes for the pothole killer, there are still dissenting voices who claim that Caithness roads are as bad as ever. Speaking for Caithness Roads Recovery (CRR), Iain Gregory said: "Deteriorating roads are a problem in many areas, but the situation in Caithness has now reached crisis proportions. CRR is simply inundated with reports from the public, and it is quite clear that the network is in an utterly dire state throughout the county.
"We hear daily of hugely expensive damage to vehicles, and the situation is now so bad that some people have told us they are becoming nervous about travelling in case of an accident occurring.
"Whilst any and all repairs are welcome, the fact is that a massive programme of works is needed – which will be very costly indeed – but the money has to be found. Action is essential before a tragedy occurs."
Cyclists are also being warned about the worsening condition of roads across the UK – with data showing 21 per cent of cyclists are involved in an accident because of a pothole. Experts from leading bicycle insurance comparison site Quotezone.co.uk warn that this figure will only increase unless the government tackles the worsening condition of UK roads.
Spending on road maintenance has almost halved since the financial crisis just over a decade ago, and the recent cost-of-living crisis has pushed potholes further down the priority list for governments and local councils. Even temporary pothole fixes – which involve filling the hole with a form of asphalt treatment – have decreased by almost half in some counties.
With the Met Office issuing weather warnings for the coming weeks, the number of potholes on UK roads is set to increase. A combination of bad weather and lack of funding has left the UK network at crisis point with some experts predicting the pothole problem may soon get out of hand.
