Potholes are an annoying part of life as a cyclist here in Staffordshire
and it’d be lovely to think that there are people out there scanning the roads so they can keep things safe for road users of all shapes and sizes.
Sadly that’s not the case though so if we want better roads on the routes we ride it’s on us to keep the council on their toes and get reporting.
So how do you report a pothole in Staffordshire?
To report a pothole on a road in Staffordshire there’s a page on the county council website that you can go to here where you can submit details of what’s wrong and where it is.
When you click on the button that says “Report a pothole online” you’ll be taken through to a page where you can provide more details.
Before you start
To make it easier for the council folk to locate and fix the problem you raise, it’s useful if you can gather some more data ready for your report. That would include:
- Location of the hole. I find that the app what 3 words can be useful for this, but you can also use your phone to pin your location and work out a grid reference when you’re at home and using a desktop/laptop computer.
- A picture of it
Once you’re in the portal…
It’s a bit of a faff, but once you’re into the reporting system they’ll ask you to identify the type of fault you’re reporting – unhelpfully it doesn’t say potholes, you have to click ‘road damage’ instead.
Then you’ll get a selection of pictures of holes in the road to select from, swipe right sorry, click on the one you fancy think most resembles the thing you’re reporting.
Next you get to click on the location of the fault on a map (this is where your saved pin is handy), before giving some written details of the fault like whether it reaches your ankle, knee or neck.
Finally you get to share your picture (you can always pop something in the hole for that like a water bottle for scale).
And with that you’re just a few clicks from having fulfulled your civic duty.
Once reported the council should be on the case within 7 days, but they reserve the right to extend that depending on how dangerous they think it is…so if you got some friends to report the same issue it might get looked at faster.
Happy cycling!
