Big Bad Bob

The subject matter is something that really grinds my gears (quote the great Peter Griffin). No matter where you go in the UK, roadworks are all the same. An utter shambles with no apparent regulation over something of extreme significance. It has a major impact on people and on businesses. On the M1 (to and from Wembley), there were 21 miles of roadworks. Why do such a large stretch in one go? Break it up into manageable chunks. People who are supposed to be 'working' are tossing it off. Either standing around chatting or just sleeping in a van. I (in fact I would imagine most people) have seen it time and time again. Why is the department for transport / transport minister not addressing this sham. It's negligence on an apocalyptic scale. The contractors tender for the contract. They are awarded the contract and then drag it out. No skin off their noses. The contracts should be tendered with acceptable timescales, not 13 sodding months to amend a slip road and hefty penalty clauses for slippages. Furthermore payment milestones should also be included in the contract, which provides incentives to get the work done quicker. In Japan in 2016, there was a massive sinkhole that caused a 30m wide 15m deep sink hole in a road damaging all sorts of infrastucture (cables, pipes etc) under the road and it also threatened nearby buildings. This was repaired in 48 hours, and after health and safety checks, it was fully opened within one week. In Derby, we had a bit of a leaky pipe, a ripple in a road and a requirement for a smattering of grout, it takes 4 months to fix.

Luckily, the missus and I had a good journey back (despite some **** *** overtaking me on a blind bend with double solid white lines, who then had to do an emergency stop to avoid hitting a car coming the other way / running into the back of the car in front of me. Typical helmet London driver!!). Left at the final whistle, brisk walk to Wembley Central, 4 stops up to Kenton, 5 minute walk to the driveway that I parked on and back in Belper for around 7:50. I feel sorry for those who got caught up with the train chaos and the M1 closure (I gather there were people playing footie on the M1 as it was closed for so long).