Highland council discusses ‘wheel tax’ in future to pay for road repairs

[Bill Fernie]

Did that headline make you sit up?

However it is not our Highland council but one in the USA see https://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...q5i-story.html

Still is it an idea worth looking at to pay for road repairs in the UK?

Undoubtedly the years of austerity have cut budgets whether local council roads or the main roads dealt with by Transport Scotland. Unless the fact of less travel due to Covid 19 begins to make a difference there is still a long standing issue.

It is possible to get out of he coming recession the government may well embark o n public works such as roads and house building to help stimulate the economy.

Any other ideas out there for our roads?

[dozy]

Why not get the government to add a fixed rate of 5p per litre to fuel ring fenced for road repairs.

It's a fair system, the more fuel you use, the more miles you are driving on the roads.

This was proposed thirty years ago and the Tories voted in down and have done every time it's mentioned . We already pay 65% tax on every litre ,funny how the Westminster government drop the gallon as it looked really bad is fuel powered towards £5.00 a gallon . I've always been a fan of road fund tax being part of the fuel price . The more fuel you use the more you pay ,that's the way it should be . Here's hoping when the Scottish vote goes the right way we'll get it right .

[richardj]

Instead of adding tax to fuel why not simply use the already huge amount of tax taken every time people fill up with fuel to ensure we have a decent road and transport system. The UK tax burden is massive and should be reduced, not increased. At present we pay 57.95 pence per litre as fuel duty, plus 20% VAT - so out of every £1.12 a litre for diesel you pay well over half of it in tax.

[Corky Smeek]

Or, we could leave fuel duty as it is; cancel Trident and HS2; get the big corporations to pay their taxes and the entrepreneurs who own those businesses to pay their personal tax bills too. There would be enough for all the roads and plenty left over for more important things like schools and hospitals.

This way the burden would fall on those who strive to avoid/evade tax and the rest of us law abiding citizens would be spared the extra 5p a litre. Despite the plea to ring fence any revenue raised from such a levy it would inevitably find its way into the general coffers. Then it would no doubt get squandered on relentlessly pursuing benefits cheats who cost the exchequer a fraction of what the corporate tax dodgers do.

Phew! Needed that.

[mi16]

Our taxation is the highest in the land yet you say they cannot afford to fix the roads.
Something stinks about that.
Too many fingers dipping into the pie.

[dozy]

Our taxation is the highest in the land yet you say they cannot afford to fix the roads.
Something stinks about that.
Too many fingers dipping into the pie.

The german version of road resurfacing is a fast and economical system . They scrape off the the road surface and add new metal and bitumen than lay the new surface, so the old road makes up to 80% of the new road . All done by one machine with lazer guided height adjustment to smooth out the highs and lows giving a better and smoother surface. Most of this is done at night ,so it's ready for traffic at first light . Patching is like throwing good money after bad ,just do the job right once and everyone wins . The machine did trials in England in the 1990s ,but the Tories hated it . Robert Macalpine put an end to any suggestions to repair roads this way. Just like you say " too many brown envelopes filling the hip pockets of the shady" .

[Corky Smeek]

I just LOVE the way you blame the Tories for absolutely everything!

For those of you interested this is a link to the FACTS, not just Dozy's hate fuelled bile. https://www.theconstructionindex.co....iew/hot-on-hot

I don't see any hate fuelled bile. Just a perfectly legitimate interpretation of what you call facts; which you have chosen to interpret differently.

[dozy]

I just LOVE the way you blame the Tories for absolutely everything!

For those of you interested this is a link to the FACTS, not just Dozy's hate fuelled bile. https://www.theconstructionindex.co....iew/hot-on-hot

Yet again the Tory terrorist party raises its head ,the unionists . Here's a fact " if your in power and make the decision , you take the blame " now that was easy . You may be happy to follow a Tory party come what may ,that's up to you . Your not in the right but I stand by your right to choose ,pity you don't afford that right to others . To state that's it's my " hate fuelled bile " is disrespectful. I'll stand up for the country of my birth, pity more people where not standing in theirs. The shame is all yours.

[joxville]

The german version of road resurfacing is a fast and economical system . They scrape off the the road surface and add new metal and bitumen than lay the new surface, so the old road makes up to 80% of the new road . All done by one machine with lazer guided height adjustment to smooth out the highs and lows giving a better and smoother surface. Most of this is done at night ,so it's ready for traffic at first light . Patching is like throwing good money after bad ,just do the job right once and everyone wins . The machine did trials in England in the 1990s ,but the Tories hated it . Robert Macalpine put an end to any suggestions to repair roads this way. Just like you say " too many brown envelopes filling the hip pockets of the shady" .

Not having seen the German system you mention, I can’t comment on that specifically, but it seems to be similar to other types of quick fix solutions the industry has come up with over the years, many of them have been good, and knowing how the Germans are in industrial capacity, I have no doubt their system works. To be effective, the repairs have to be done as soon as a problem is identified, if not, as happens in this country, the damage gets worse and the integrity of the road is weakened. As we all know, potholes are left to get deeper and wider before any remedial action is taken, and most repairs never last long before the damage recurs. As a nation that gets more than its fair share of rain, any damage on a road surface allows that water to seep through the layers that make up a road, causing further unseen problems. Unless, and until, there’s a change in the way road building and repairs are funded, we’ll always have a crap roads network.

[The Horseman]

The system you describe is being used more and more in Canada.
It takes the scraping machine, a tar tanker, and if required some extra material. 3 vehicles and it can do several miles in a day..Dawn to dusk. And of course the required road rollers.
I spoke with the Foreman and it is very cost effective.
My interest was that my ‘Faither’ drove a lorry with tar from Bower Quarry to wherever it was needed.
A new Very cost effective solution, and with the new ‘scraper/spreader’, the road level is better than ever!