Blocked drains on main roads
Is it my imagination or is drainage on main roads getting worse in recent years? I’m often seeing cyclists having to swerve to avoid huge bodies of sitting water (\puddles” would be too light a word) or pedestrians getting drenched by passing vehicles. I few weeks back I witnessed a cyclist going through sitting water near the pinch-point on Dalston Lane and he hit something hidden under the water (probably a pot hole or brick) and came off.I see them all over the place but another particularly bad spot is by the Tesco on Kingsland Road near Haggerston Station.Has anyone else noticed this? And am I correct in thinking that TfL is responsible for drainage on ‘A’ roads?”
e2dermot
Not sure about blocked drains as such, but the biggest cause of these reservoirs of rainwater all over London is the inept installation of ‘dropped kerb’ paving at pedestrian crossings – those knobbly tiles on the pavement which help blind people find the kerb at crossings.The problem is they’ve been so ineptly installed – at no little public expense – that they create a dip between the road surface and the kerb which acts as a pond for rainwater. Anyone standing next to one of these ponds will get drenched by passing traffic.It’s actually local councils who are responsible as I think only major routes in and out of London are the responsibility of TFL.