Potholes may decide UK polls
Poor condition of roads is symptomatic of crumbling state of infrastructure across the country
Dotting the asphalt, they come in various shapes and sizes, costing drivers a fortune in vehicle repairs and even lives. In Britain, potholes are increasingly a scourge and an obsession. So much so that they will be among the five biggest issues in the UK general election expected this year.
For starters, potholes across the UK are thought to number more than one million, according to vehicle-breakdown company RAC, owing to a widely perceived lack of government investment for long-lasting repairs.
For some, the poor state of Britain’s roads is symptomatic of the crumbling state of infrastructure across the country, including Victorian-era hospitals, schools and sewers.
“Our roads are in a horrendous state because of lack of investment over decades by successive governments and authorities,” lamented Mark Morrell, an ardent 63-year-old activist, dubbed “Mr Pothole”.
“The UK road network is like the blood supply to the UK economy and it’s been neglected,” he told AFP.
Morrell’s eye-catching social media content includes floating rubber ducks in a pothole, filling another with instant noodles and riding a bright orange tank to parliament in London.
Potholes have also caught the attention of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose Conservative party is trailing badly behind the main opposition Labour in polls.
Sunak in November pledged to tackle “the scourge of potholes” with an “unprecedented” £8.3 billion ($10.5 billion) of funding over 11 years for road repairs in England.
Hard road for Ferraris
In 2022, renowned singer Rod Stewart was filmed filling a pothole with gravel near his plush home close to London. The performer, who released Hard Road in 1974, said at the time: “My Ferrari can’t go through here at all.”
Morrell is meanwhile not alone in harnessing his creative side to highlight the UK’s pothole plague. Across the country, people spray paint around the damage, hoping it will force local councils to act quickly.
Repair techniques may soon be transformed, however. The University of Liverpool is helping to develop a pothole-filling robot powered by artificial intelligence.