Anyone been down the main Epping Road from High Beech recently?

I have just gone back to using this stretch of road the last few weeks and my god it is absolutely hideous, I know it was resurfaced last summer and I can only think they ran out of money to finish it properly?, I do not think I have ever ridden on such a poor road surface in the UK after so called improvements works.

Granted the old surface was not great but this new surface with the loose stones everywhere and bone shaking ruffness is honestly not acceptable. Do they not know what tarmac is?.

Anyone else come to the same conclusion?.. I guess it could be of a advantage if you are heading over to the Cobbles this Spring?..

Brexit innit - EU can f. off with their velvet smooth tarmac. we're brutish and we like it rough.

Yeah it's awful. Not a nice road at the best of time. I prefer taking the road down to Theydon Bois and up Piercing Hill. Nice little detour with a gentle climb that takes you up to Bell Common.

They should have got the people who recently did Hackney road, it's like a velodrome.

Indeed,

Well when it was resurfaced previous it was substandard and that meant riders tended to ride to the right of the cycle lane marking where the surface was slightly less bumpy, now the cycle lane has been widened a small amount you really would be in the main lane on what tends to be a very busy bit of road.

There certainly are other options although less direct and by then I have done my intervals etc.

The furthest end heading towards Woodford from the Robin hood is especially bad, the surface is breaking up and stones are being flung all over by passing cars, I wonder if firing off a email to Essex council would be a idea??..

Truthfully I am shocked and stunned that a road that is known to be used by cyclist was resurfaced in such a manner, (Reference Epping), I would have thought it justified to make sure there was a smooth safe surface along there. It must have been spoken about in consultation?..

Agree, it is terrible. Both the markings, and the new surfacing. It's almost as if it's been designed to discourage cyclists.

Honestly I didn't want to be the one to say it but WORD,...

When the council first put the gravel down, they didn't mark it with signs. Saw two riders who'd gone down on it from the High Beech roundabout, both hit the deck.

The bike ‘lane’ is bumpy, dangerous and mounts the pavement half way down. Its especially bad as on the way into London it’s downhill and you are easily going 40kph.

As the bike lane is there, drivers get even more angry if you don’t use it. I’ve experienced loads of punishment passes on there in the last year.

I would have thought putting anything down that could cause issue would be a big no no, esp as it is far easier than ever before to bring a case against the council.

It does seem bizarre that they have replaced the previous poor surface with something magnitudes worse, the main carriage way I guess for cars was fine, would it not have been sensible to spend the monies that they have resurfacing the whole stretch on sorting out the cycle lane?.. Just how much has this cost the council I wonder?.

I was just going to post about this as well- rode back down into Leyton along there a few hours ago. It's absolutely horrific! It's not even like the standard 'surface dressing' (aka tar and chippings) because the chippings appear to be that much larger than normal. Felt like I was in the bloomin Paris-Roubaix.
A strongly worded letter to (presumably) Essex County council is on its way, and I'd encourage others to do the same.

It is awful - I went that way when I cycled up to my mum's in Suffolk on my old alu Principia, a proper boneshaking experience.

I'll try the other routes next time, thanks for sharing

It used to be worse than it is now, before winter they laid down a layer of gravel as if they were going to resurface it but just didn't. I try and avoid it now, go out via Daws Hill/Mott street and back through Woodford. Can share example routes if anyone wants.

Here is the link at Essex CC for reporting. I went for the 'pavements, kerbs, cycle path' option, as 'road surface issues' appears only to relate to potholes. However maybe if the pothole route is taken they will prioritise it more...? Who knows!

https://www.essexhighways.org/transport-and-roads/tell-us/report-all-issues.aspx

Yes please. I discovered this absolute shower of a road surface before the winter and have avoided it ever since. When I come down this way I am riding in from near Cambridge and it's proven hard to find decent alternatives without adding significant mileage.

I sent a email to the actual Highways agency and instructed them to direct it to the relevant department.

Hopefully they can at least review the road surface there, as already it is breaking up in parts.. It was only resurfaced I think in 2015?? and I do not recall any excavation work as there are no power lines along said route or houses etc, so they certainly have spent a fair bit of coin doing it twice, I just wish they would have done it right!!!!..

The section from the Rangers Road junction on wards is perfectly acceptable, just the fast downhill 30mph sections that are stretchy as hell..

Out of shear interest I wonder what the cost was for this work and if they are happy regarding the quality??, my guess is that it is acceptable for cars so yes perfectly fine??.

If you don't get a reply you could follow it up with a freedom of information request and find out how much it cost.

It truly is a terrible bit of road, possibly the worst surface of any of London's cycle lanes

I used it 5-6 days a week as part of my training route, I tend to totally miss out the first section from the Shell Garage to the Robin Hood pub now by going via the High beech tea hut route and cutting down to the Robin Hood roundabout. Sadly I have little option but to dive head first down the second section where my soul is rattled out of my ears.

I wonder if the Dunwich Dynamo will use it this year?. I can only imagine how soul destroying going the other way must be?. ;-)

Here's an example. Going out take the left by Bancroft School, then down Daws Hill, take a right, and go up Mott Street. This route comes back through Chigwell/Woodford, there's quite a few different routes you can take through that bit but as a rule you want to be on the East side of the M11 then head for Chigwell.
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/31976312

Cheers. I think I've actually tried that Daws Hill route but got snarled up in rush hour traffic - it's quite tight from memory but maybe I was just unlucky. I think staying on the east side of the M11 is the way to go, nice roads back through Thaxted etc on the way home that way too.

@fixedPIl Since it's not a trunk road, it's not a Highways Agency road and therefore falls under the jurisdiction of the local authority (Essex). Hopefully they've forwarded it on though.

The Dunwich Dynamo is highly unlikely to change route - you'd have more luck herding cats.

I had a very polite email back from them stating it should be directed to Essex Authority but could not forward my email due to GDPR..

I will re submit in the coming seconds..

Went up there this morning, was shite, even on 38s with 45psi. On the way back we rode on the service road in the forest that runs parallel, wasn't that much smoother.

I had a response from my report yesterday:

"Current status: insufficient information

Unfortunately, the enquiry we have received did not contain sufficient information for us to clearly identify the exact location or understand the precise nature of the issue being reported. We need further clarification, so if the problem still exists, please call us on 0345 603 7631, quoting the reference number of the issue, so we can check the nature and exact location of the issue. Thank you.

Regards,

Essex Highways "

ARGH. I clearly told them the exact stretch of road it was. I suspect this is just them burying head in the sand or making an easy excuse not to address the problem..