'I've travelled the length of this country and Edinburgh roads are the worst' - Readers' Comments

The RAC has said that many roads in the UK “resemble the surface of the Moon” after a record increase in pothole-related breakdowns. Readers were keen to have their say...

Readers have criticised Edinburgh’s potholed road surfaces

Tim Wight: The new project supported by Sustrans is “Spaces for Potholes”. Potholes need more consideration by the selfish public of Edinburgh. Cammy and Adam commissioned Sustrans to advise them on how to make Edinburgh a safe place for potholes so they have a friendly environment where they can grow. This programme is a crowning success of this current administration.

David Kew: Hitting these potholes with cars bursts tyres, snaps wheels and finishes suspensions. Hitting these potholes with a motorcycle bursts spleies, snaps necks and finishes lives.

Louise Wilson: Driving round Edinburgh these days is more like trying to find road rather than avoid potholes as there are too many.

David Boyle: Why do the road authorities resurface the roads in the depth of winter in subzero temperatures when the work should be done in the warm summer months when the days are long?

Peter Lewis: The roads in Edinburgh are genuinely shocking. I now choose longer routes if it means avoiding the worst sections.

Ann Robb: The roads and pavements are awful – poorly maintained. But we can waste millions on trams and other rubbish that the council tax-paying residents don’t want.

Graham Macdonald: We’re trying to make Edinburgh a 21st century city with all the modern buildings etc going up yet we have roads the Romans would be embarrassed by and getting worse by the day. A lot of utility companies that dig up the roads do not make good again and they last no time at all. They should be held responsible for at least five years to maintain the patches they make.

Henry Campbell Gillan: It's amazing that a story about UK roads quickly becomes all about Edinburgh's roads. Austerity, Tories, come to mind. I'll say it again – it's a UK problem.

Annie Kennedy: I've travelled the length of this country and Edinburgh roads are the worst. Even the car hire companies tell you to take the extra insurance so you don't have to pay for damage to tyres and rims.

Frank Mckay: All the council seem to do is shovel a lump of tar into the pothole and leave it, and it crumbles a few days later. However, they have a new plan now: they cover potholes with bollards.

Graeme Renwick: I’m sure if you look properly, it’s actually Rice Krispies and milk they put in.

Ross Aitchison: Instead of painting the roads how about fixing them first?

Robert Howlieson: A local resident in my street filled one with cement!

Derek Clyde: The strategy is to allow them to be classified as craters, at which point they become the responsibility of NASA.

Barrie A Fleming: Let's see if NASA can fly a helicopter on them. It's just like the terrain on Mars. Then we might get proper funding to repair them, instead of the money being ploughed in for the rollout of these wands and crazy road layouts across the city by Edinburgh Council So many roads across the city actually need the proper road markings redone too as they are fading away.