English village may use potholes for speed control

[April 17, 2009]  LONDON (AP) -- Here's a new road repair plan: Don't bother.

Officials in the small English village of Navestock, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of London, are considering leaving many of the town's potholes unfilled as a way to bedevil the speeders who zip through town at a breakneck pace.

There's another advantage as well: Leaving the potholes alone is a lot cheaper than fixing them.

City councilor Mike Parrish said the plan would help return many of the town's smaller roads to their original status as country lanes.

"It seems potholes are good on our quiet little back roads," he said. "Not fixing those might save us time and cost and also be a traffic calming measure."

The national speed limit is 60 miles per hour (95 kilometers per hour) -- far too fast for Navestock, Parrish said. "People are worried about their children."

Some residents have asked for speed bumps, but potholes would serve the same purpose, the city councilor said. The plan would be to repair potholes on certain roads to encourage their use, while letting those on other roads serve as a deterrent.

The town is inviting residents to join the discussion before a decision is made.

Not everyone thinks letting the town's lesser roads revert to a natural state is a good idea.

Former policeman Roy Tyzack called it "ludicrous," saying a pro-pothole policy would endanger motorists, cyclists, horse riders and the many elderly people who use the roads.

"It will cause damage to vehicles as opposed to simply slowing them down," Tyzack said. He also noted that with little street lighting in the rural area, people would have trouble seeing the potholes. "The thought of letting our roads deteriorate is very dangerous."

[Associated Press; By GREGORY KATZ]

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