Patching up the holes

There are a few bits of our road that have become utterly despicable; pock-marked and shell-holed as though they've come under sustained bombardment from the mortar fire. Below: the lowest-lying stretch of ul. Trombity, susceptible to flooding whenever the rainfall's heavy. Then come the frosts; the ice expands in the cracks; the asphalt breaks up, holes appear and the whole thing gets worse and worse.

I was delighted to see as I returned home on Friday evening that a road repair crew was busy on ul. Trombity, patching up the worst of the winter's damage to the surface. I was even more delighted to see them still at it on Saturday (below).

Below: by Monday morning, commuters will be in for a treat! No more worries about suspension and scraped bottoms. How long will this last? Not long. The underlying problem has not been fixed - namely running surface water off the road and into the nearby pond. There is no guttering along ul. Trombity, neither are there any storm drains. So water will continue to gather here, freezing in winter, cracking the surface, creating ever-deeper pot-holes.

We have just been informed (in a long-winded and none-too-clear way) that the local property tax will go up. Good. It's laughably low (the equivalent of around £30 a year, compared with London rates of £120 a month). I'd happily pay more local tax in exchange for proper infrastructure - properly maintained asphalted roads, drains and sewerage.

This time two years ago:
In search of the Sublime Aesthetic

This time three years ago:
Flying in from the Faroes