Tag: resurfacing

June 3rd – A later than usual commute, and I just caught the lights at Rushall Square as they went red. In the last few months, this junction has been resurfaced, with new high-friction braking surfaces and lane markings. As a junction, I’m quite fond of it.

I must spend ages waiting here.

I like the new lane markings coming the other way now, which seem to have improved road use between the two sets of lights no end. It’s a shame it has to be pointed out what the three lanes at the junction are for, but there you go…

September 2nd – A better commute this morning. The sun was out, and it was a nice day. Spinning through Darlaston I was pleased to see Bull Street being resurface at long last – it was getting to the point where it didn’t need sweeping so much as ploughing.

I’ve been quite lucky this year; Green Lane in Shelfield and Bull Street both resurfaced, two roads that were nasty to ride on.

August 30th – This has me flummoxed, and quite, quite furious to be honest. I rode on the cycleway onto the canal near the Jaguar plant at Castle Browmwich; from there it’s a decent ride on the canal to the city centre, via Spaghetti Junction. I do it loads. The towpaths for the whole route have been excellent in the last few years, from when they were upgraded about 10 years ago.

Today, I noted huge sections of path out of city towards Spaghetti, and further out towards Tyburn are being completely relaid. There is absolutely no need for this, and it’s a huge waste of resources that would be better employed instituting a decent towpath between Perry Barr and Rushall Junction, which is currently lousy, or from Bordesley to Solihull, which is pretty much impassible in winter or wet weather.

I’m assuming this is to do with the council and the ‘Birmingham Cycle Revolution’ – I wouldn’t trust the buggers to run a bath judging by this pointless waste.

August 9th – Green Lane in Shelfield is being, at long last, resrfaced. I came down there tonight, and It’s officially closed, but was ridable with care. Despite the numerous ‘No Parking’ signs and leaflets, I noticed this vehicle, around which road workers clearly had to plane.

These folk may have gone on holiday I guess, and not known about the works, so one shouldn’t be too harsh.

But it would be ironic if they ever moaned about the council never fixing the potholes…

April 19th – The footpaths around Chasewater’s south shore have recently been resurfaced, and are, on the whole, lovely. Since transferring to the control of Staffordshire County Council on April 1st, certain local councillors have rediscovered the park’s existence and seen keen on turning into some kind of landlocked Prestatyn, and the council itself talks darkly of ‘returns’.

I fear we’re in for interesting times.

The new path around the boating lake shows off the goose and swan poo fantastically well, and I was cheered to note the return of the third white domestic goose, hitherto missing since Christmas.

She looked in good health despite what must be advanced years, and was very white and neat. Not as aggressive as normal, the geese ignored me and one remained resting in statuesque, one-legged repose.

These birds bloody hate me on the whole, but I’m actually rather fond of them. Long my they remain.

May 29th – The south end of Green Lane in Shelfield has been resurfaced by contractors working for Walsall Council. The technique – known as ‘Micro Asphalt’ invokes spreading a layer of aggregate and polymer over the pre-existing road surface after slurry sealing. Generally an adequate solution, it’s better than a tar and chip. One of the disadvantages of the process is that it results in the necessity to rework the interfaces with ironworks – manholes, drains and so forth. Sadly, here in Shelfield, they’re halfway through this process. Some genius has excavated a bunch of ironworks to a depth of 25-40mm, and just left them for days on end. No warning signs, no temporary fill, just a man-made trap ready to take the wheels from under a cyclist or motorcyclist.

I don’t know which intellectual giant is responsible for this, but it’s bloody atrocious. We’ve gone from rectifying potholes to creating them. Idiots.