Wrexham man photographs every pothole along work commute

Rad Marciak walked 17 miles from his place of work near Cholmondeley Castle back to his home in Wrexham on Saturday. 

The 43-year-old was prompted to do so by the amount of potholes he faces on his daily commute to work. Along the way, he photographed over 250 potholes and damaged road surfaces along Blue Bell Lane, A534 Wrexham Road, Barton Road, Broxton Road, Barnhill Road, Salters Lane, Long Lane and Bickerton Road.

A large pothole on the junction of Bickerton Road and Long Lane (Image: User generated content)

Explaining why chose to do it, Rad said: "I could sit at home and moan about the condition of the roads to family and friends, or I could go out and do something about it. 

"I commute daily from Wrexham to Cholmondeley and back, a total of around 34 miles per working day. This over the past three years of my employment adds up roughly to 20,000 miles driving down the same roads. With my car being battered constantly by potholes, poor, uneven or damaged road surfaces. 

"I’m doing my best to avoid the worst bits, but due to traffic and especially during winter months, being blinded by oncoming vehicles this is nigh impossible. Roads are not supposed to be an obstacle course, some difficult places require me to cross to the side of oncoming traffic even on blind bends, in close proximity to a school and nursery."

Rad said that in the last year he has assisted three drivers whose journey led to damaged tyres or alloys.

"This has not happened to me yet, the question is not if, but rather when, especially as the road condition gets worse by the day," he added.

"I was told that in order for local authorities to act on existing potholes, they need to be informed about those in the first place, as if they were unaware of the true condition of roads.

"Therefore during my walk down the path of my daily commute I’ve photographed every single pothole or damaged road surface that in my opinion will cause inevitable damage to my car over a period of time. If this in turn leads to MOT failure then I’d like to know if local authorities will compensate myself and other drivers who use these roads daily and potentially damage their vehicles in the process."

He added: "As car owners we have no other choice but to pay road tax, insurance, fuel tax, on top of that we have to suffer further potential or actual cost for repairs."

"Some of this can be claimed back from the local authority, but only if a number of conditions are met and the claim is accepted. It seems that prolonged use of our vehicles on shoddy roads is perfectly acceptable collateral damage, even though this could lead to someone getting seriously hurt, or worse."

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The photographs Rad took will be sent to both Wrexham and Cheshire East councils, with GPS coordinates of their location. 

"Whether that will achieve anything, I very much hope so, but neither will be able to claim that they have not been informed," he said. 

"As my workplace is very remote, alternative transport is not an option, I’ve tried also different routes but those are equally as bad, if not worse."