Potholes can be a killer for motorbiked rivers
AFTER the winter, the terrible state of our roads is becoming even more stark. Unlike in Great Britain, our local councils have no direct responsibility for road maintenance. This is squarely within the remit of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), formerly the Department of the Environment.
Due to restricted funding and lack of investment in safe, well-maintained roads, our network has been allowed to fall into a perilous and shameful state — not to mention downright dangerous in many places. So bad have things become across Northern Ireland that it will take enormous sums of money to bring our roads back up to standard.
Part of the reason for that is HM Treasury’s spending rules. Money is allocated to particular purposes and not allowed to be used for anything else. So, money held by DfI for other projects, but which may not be fully spent, cannot be transferred to be used for emergency roads maintenance.
The Motorcycle Action Group represents over 65,000 motorcyclists across the UK, including several hundred in Northern Ireland. We are working with the DfI on an enhanced safety strategy for motorcyclists in Northern Ireland. This includes thinking about roads infrastructure as being integral to that safety plan.
We are encouraging DfI to fully embrace Institute of Highway Engineers’ best practice recommendations that enhance safety for motorcyclists, and to adopt a policy of ensuring that all road repairs and reinstatements are carried out to a standard that ensures a safe, smooth road for motorcyclists.
This will be of advantage to all other road users. A poor-quality repair may present a bumpy inconvenience for a car, but it can be a lethal hazard to a motorcyclist. So, if repair standards meet the needs of a motorcyclist, they will ensure a high and safe standard for all.
Hopefully, our encouragement will bear fruit and progressively we will see an improvement in the quality of repairs at least.
Although our local councils have no responsibility for roads maintenance, they do have, I believe, a responsibility to their ratepayers to lobby on this issue.
Our MPs, too, could campaign for more flexible rules on expenditure for roads, as could our MLAs (even though they are not sitting at Stormont). Perhaps they could make it a priority when they do resume formal operations?
In the meantime, anyone who wishes to report road damage of any sort can use the online service at www. nidirect.gov.uk/services/report-pothole. The more who do so, the more we can press for work to be done.
MARTYN BOYD
NI representative Motorcycle Action Group UK