One of the roads on my route to work was dug up recently for some cable- or pipe-laying. Whatever they were up to, they’ve finished now, patched up the holes, and moved on.

One of the holes intersected some lettering (‘TURN LEFT’), and they had to make that good as well. This they did, but only by the barest margin, and for the meanest interpretation of their obligations:

Partially repainted lettering on road

They’ve repainted the lettering where they had actually dug it up, but left the worn and illegible portions of letters outside that strictly demarcated area. The couple of inches at the bottom of the first T? Not their job! The barely-readable N? Outside their remit.

There’s a bunch of people who take no pride in their work!

At a later stage, someone else will have to come along and repaint the worn portions of the lettering. It will probably be different contractors, and a difference budget, but it’ll cost all of us more in the long run. Is it any wonder that our infrastructure’s in such a parlous state?