General springtime concern at roadway conditions

Spring is in the air and the number of complaints concerning the condition of roadways over level crossings increases exponentially. Likewise, the number of complaints concerning potholes on the immediate approaches to level crossings increase significantly.

In the eyes of motorists, the response to their complaints is slow and marked by a willingness of rail authorities to point to the responsibility of highways authorities and highways authorities to point the finger of blame at the railway infrastructure manager when, in reality, the highway and rail authorities should collaborate to treat the problem holistically.

Poor roadway surfaces and potholes pose a particular risk to cyclists, users of mobility scooters and others with narrow wheels including those with pushchairs and wheelchairs. Additionally these defects increase the risk of road vehicles becoming stuck when passing over the level crossing. In turn, because motorists focus so much on avoiding potholes and other imperfections, they have less of an eye on the possible approach of a train. This is of particular significance at passive level crossings. However, the lack of attention on other than the roadway surface can also be an issue at active level crossings.

When the condition of the approaches to and the level crossing roadway is of concern, traffic congestion can increase significantly as motorists slow to a crawl to minimise damage to their vehicles and discomfort to themselves and their passengers. In turn, this is more likely to lead to following motorists entering a level crossing before their ability to exit clear of the railway has been established. In turn this can lead to vehicles becoming trapped on level crossings.

Given all of the above it is a legitimate concern of road users that their safety is compromised by the time it takes to get level crossing roadways restored to an acceptable position and potholes filled on the immediate approaches to level crossings.

There is an acceptance on the part of road users that a severe winter, as experienced across much of the northern hemisphere in 2009-2010, will lead to a backlog of repairs to be attended to once the weather improves. What is rightly not acceptable is the tendency of some rail infrastructure managers and highways authority to blame each other rather than work together to restore level crossings and highway approaches to an acceptable state. Yes funding may be tight, but level crossing roadway and highway approach issues need to be seen as a priority task given the potentially catastrophic consequences of collisions on level crossings.