Fill that hole

If like me, you find your journey consists of concentrating on traffic and avoiding holes in the road, you might like to know about a free service from the Cycle Touring Club (CTC) called 'Fill That Hole' (http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/). It takes care of notifying a local authority of any holey problem you come across. You just need to report the problem via their web site and they do the rest.

Of the 5964 holes on their hazard list, there are 4 in Blackburn. I had been cycling past this one for some time now and wondering what qualified this hole to be marked with white paint when the rest of the journey has many similar hazards and bumps to avoid. It is probably whether the hazard has been notified to the local authority so they have knowledge of the hole and it can go on a repairs list.

Blackburn with Darwen council website states:

"Safety inspections will be carried out in accordance with the relevant section of the Council’s network management policy and the Council's highway safety inspection procedure. "

"Our primary concern is the safety of those using the road network. For that reason, the findings of the safety inspections will be the principal driver for undertaking the appropriate methods of maintenance. More information about this is in the highway safety inspection procedure".

This hole was obviously in this phase. I took the picture on Monday and today it has been patched up. I also took this picture of what looked like a worse hazard at the bottom of Philips Road. That was alsoMonday. By Tuesday it had white paint round it. The inspector is more active than I anticipated. Hats off to Blackburn with Darwen there.

I look forward to seeing less white paint and smoother roads to cycle on. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime lets see if Blackburn with Darwen can keep the list of hazards on 'FillThatHole' below 0.135% of the total.