Strathaven A71 TT

S

stevewrightscotland

New member
Hey,
Strathaven is well known as the centre of Ducati Scotland and the A71 running through the town is the local TT course. For years its been a lovely well surfaced low policed stretch of road with lovely fast bends and many overtaking friendly straights but in the spring of 2009 an evil task was undertaken on this fine section of road.

Somebody resurfaced several sections of the A71 west of Straven between here and Drumclog and man have they fxcked it up. They have laid possibly the worst stretchs of tarmac I have ever seen and I ride a lot.

The worst section is west of Drumclog where what used to be a fast straight leading into a lovely left/right/left bend combo is now a bumpy wrist throbbing nightmare. I've rode it a couple of times on both the 999 and the Multi and both bikes bounce so severely its not easy at any speed anywhere near the national speed limit. The front wheel is bouncing so severely I doubt if an emergency stop would be possible and its a wrist killer to make any kind of progress.

What kind of idiot pays a tarmac contractor to lay roads like this and how did any road inspector pass this surface as fit for a major A road?

We pay road taxes and we should expect safe road surfaces and this is not safe ... even at 60mph.

Where can I complain about this? I'd email my MP but they are probably too busy fiddling their expenses too bother.

Anyway be careful on the A71 west of Straven now folks as its dangerous at any speed.

Cheers
Steve
 
I couldn't agree more. The first time I hit it I thought something serious had gone wrong with my bike.:eek:

It really is dangerous as you feel you have little control of the bike. I would compare it to riding over a road that has been scraped before the final surface goes down.:mad:

I think the road is in North Lanarkshire so it might be worth contacting their roads department. I certainly will.

It's just a matter of time before it causes an accident.
 
You may have a point DKM!! I didn't know that roads had to be passed by an inspector? Who employs the inspector? Local/national govt, local council, independent company?

They might be the people to complain to in the first instance.

On the BBC news this morning, lots of chat about the state of roads in Britain so now might be an opportune moment to complain.
 
I agree completely this road used to be amazing, have u been on the muirkirk road, even worse!!! My trip to muirkirk takes longer than it used too???!!!:flash:
 
Its really bad heading east, I pulled out to overtake and got such a fright its on the verge of a tank slapper!:eek:

Rolled off the throttle and eat humble pie behind a car until the surface improved
 
GScot said:
I agree completely this road used to be amazing, have u been on the muirkirk road, even worse!!! My trip to muirkirk takes longer than it used too???!!!:flash:
Click to expand...

yeah I went on the Muirkirk road recently and thought I was back in the outer hebrides... in fact thats an insult to the outer hebrides :mad:
 
I had a ...... spirited ride on the muirkirk road a few weeks ago on the F4......quite enjoyed it.... certainly kept me concentrating anyway!;):cool:

Didn't think it was that bad compared to bits of the Lesma-Strvn road.
 
Yes the Muirkirk road is also pretty bad but I kind off accept that as its only a B road. The A71 is a major route connecting Kilmarnock and Edinburgh as should be kept to A standard and these new stretches are not even B standard.

There are 3 stretches and 1 stretch is over a mile in length, handlebars and wrists get a severe bouncing even at 40mph and the front wheel is leaping all over the place.

I'm going to call the Roads Dept tomorrow and see what they say.
Cheers
Steve
 
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