It's around 20cm deep and around 70cm in diameter.
It has been like this since before christmas and the road is also breaking up on both sides of the main hole.
The roads in central Manchester are getting really bad at the moment, and it makes cycling a lot less comfortable, especially if you have a small wheeled bike.
Still this pothole is a pretty small example.
The MEN reported back in December a car getting stuck as a water main collapsed.
Photo from the MEN
This particular hole was soon repaired, but many more bike wheel sized holes are still out there.
Many sections of Oxford Road are like a roller coaster, where the tarmac is warped and buckled even though it hasn't actually broken through.
ReplyDeleteThat's in addition to the real potholes which you describe here, and I think much of the problem is down to damage from the incredibly heavy bus traffic.
Just one more reason not to force buses and bikes together.
I've said it before, but whoever decided buses and bikes are good candidates to share a lane, especially on the "busiest bus route in Europe", should be made to cycle up and down Oxford Road all day just to see how it feels. Perhaps then they would discover why so few students cycle in Manchester, home of the two biggest universities in the UK.
I'm looking forward to the introduction of the recently confirmed cross city bus scheme - work on Oxford Road due to start early 2013 apparently - but I hope they manage to agree more segregation between buses and bikes than the original drawings show.
Me again. You'll be pleased to hear (if you're not already aware) that this particular pothole is in the process of being mended as I type - a lane is closed, contraflow is in place and the buses are stretching down Oxford Road...
ReplyDeletePerhaps the added pressure of this blog post made them get their act together! But the northbound lane on the opposite side has still got some whoppers, all accidents waiting to happen. I wonder if they'll just leave them now until the cross city bus scheme work starts.
I seem to remember some from last year that would have troubled Penny Farthing riders, let alone "small wheeled bikes".
ReplyDeleteThe road damage, and the persistent spilt diesel are a real pain along here.