Roads war zone in big wet pothole blowout

NOW THAT'S A POTHOLE: Huge pothole on Rockmount Rd, Toowoomba in 2010. File Picture. Credit: Shelley Schipper Source: The Courier-Mail

MORE than 220 potholes are being filled around the city every day as the big wet takes its toll both on Brisbane's roads and our cars.

The run of wild weather has forced drivers to negotiate roads that are flooded or closed and suffer accident-related delays. It has also created dangerous potholes across the city.

Brisbane Council field services chair David McLachlan said the potholes were wreaking havoc on the roads and costing the council millions.

"Rain is the enemy of road services," McLachlan said.

"Constantly wet roads and constant traffic does inevitably lead to a break-up of the road surface and potholes are always an issue.

"We've seen an inevitable increase in potholes since the Australia Day flood."

He said an average 1200 potholes were reported each week, but wet conditions bumped that up to 1800, with a 30 per cent spike in the past two months. He said there were currently 12 repair crews working on potholes six days a week.

The council fixes 70,000 potholes a year, taking up $2.6m of its $10m paved roads budget.

Repairing a pot hole on Newlands Rd, Wamuran. Picture: Paul Guy

RACQ technical and safety manager Steve Spalding said even one pothole could cause serious damage to cars - and the wallet.

"Damage to tyres and rims...can be quite costly because often a tyre cannot be repaired after pothole damage, it needs to be replaced," he said.

"For motorbike riders and cyclists, it's not the pothole but the debris that can be the real danger."

As reported last year, uneven road surfaces, potholes and patchy repair works were the biggest complaints in submissions to The Courier-Mail's Traffic Hot Spots: You Drive the Change campaign.

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