The reasons for all thosepotholes

THE EDITOR: Potholes are everywhere in TT. Expensive areas are not excluded. What is interesting is that you can predict how long a road repair lasts. Less than six months sometimes on Morne Coco Road in Petit Valley.

With numerous car owners, maxi-taxis and heavy vehicles delivering goods, this area of the valley is at times a little pothole heaven. At the moment stretches along Morne Coco Road have just been repaired, paved and white-marked. Beautifully done, but for how long?

TT has never built roads using the same consistency in road material as used out there in foreign. Is it not enough pitch? Not enough sand and rocks? What is the difference in topping being used? Like putting enough icing on a cake, the experts know how much to use so the edifice will not crumble.

There is a school of thought that says if the TT roads are too well done, then they will last too long. Several people will be out of regular employment.

My take on the whole road-paving debacle is that our roads were originally made for only riding bicycles. Fast forward to 2021 and we are now so prosperous that heavy vehicles are damaging these “thin” roads. And of course not forgetting that with the popular roll-on roll-off cheap-car industry, we possibly have almost one million vehicles wearing down the roads.

So what are we doing wrong? Or rather, how can we change the recipe for mixing TT road-paving ingredients? And, importantly, how come our attractive new-style main highways are lasting longer than the side roads? Too soon to predict potholes?

We will have to wait and see but on the numerous small roads we have big problems.

LYNETTE JOSEPH

Diego Martin