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Why are roads in the U.S. so bad?
- Thread starter glocke12
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In Oregon a lot of our freeways have 50mph speed limits, even though they're mostly straight and not obscenely busy.
Whenever I go to Washington and encounter a 75mph limit I happily drive 85 like a normal person.
It's a pretty odd generalization to suggest that all the roads in the US are bad...
Whenever I go to Washington and encounter a 75mph limit I happily drive 85 like a normal person.
It's a pretty odd generalization to suggest that all the roads in the US are bad...
In CT the main reason the roads are bad is because of the way they were originally constructed. They did not plan for the growth and traffic. So now that they need to repair the roads they don't have the room or the money to rebuild them properly. The main reason for traffic jams is bottlenecks in the original construction. So without completely reconstructing the system a simple paving job wont fix anything.
I remember living in Oklahoma, my single biggest and most consistent complaint about the roads is that the freeway on/off ramps are all of four or five car lengths long. You have almost NO time at all to get up to entry speed, or down to exiting speed, before you nearly collide with someone going the speed limit.
I remember living in Oklahoma, my single biggest and most consistent complaint about the roads is that the freeway on/off ramps are all of four or five car lengths long. You have almost NO time at all to get up to entry speed, or down to exiting speed, before you nearly collide with someone going the speed limit.
Kinda the same problem with the I-10 down here in New Orleans, ramps can either be too short in busy places or unnecessarily long in places where it doesn't matter at all.
I've driven to/through 44 of our states and I think Nevada has some of the smoothest roads.
PA isn't as bad as the roads in the larger cities in CA. When I still went to CA I used to remove anything from my cup holders before going over the grapevine hill into the L.A. area. If I didn't the roads would remove them for me. I haven't been to CA in almost year and will happy if I never go there again.
PA isn't as bad as the roads in the larger cities in CA. When I still went to CA I used to remove anything from my cup holders before going over the grapevine hill into the L.A. area. If I didn't the roads would remove them for me. I haven't been to CA in almost year and will happy if I never go there again.
Obviously none of you have been to MA. We have some of the worst roads I encountered. This is especially true for inner Boston. I own a car with a racing suspension and it's a huge pain to drive in the city because you can feel every bump and there are plenty available.
Best roads I've seen so far - California. But I haven't been around the country that much.
We have some of the worst roads I encountered. This is especially true for inner Boston. I own a car with a racing suspension and it's a huge pain to drive in the city because you can feel every bump and there are plenty available.Best roads I've seen so far - California. But I haven't been around the country that much.
In answer to the OP's question, I'd first say that I understand what he means but slightly disagree.
A more correct statement would be that the quality of roads in the US varies greatly. This is because different states have different ways of maintaining roads and (perhaps more importantly) the US is a huge country with climates ranging from tropical to arctic and everything in between.
I've lived in Ohio, Michigan, and noe Alaska - all of which have harsh winters with freeze-thaw cycles that destroy roads quickly. Also, snow plows and salt/sand wreak havock on concrete and blacktop. Up in Alaska, many roads need to be resurfaced or extensively repaired every year. And speaking of Pennsylvania, I've driven accross the state on I-80/I-81 as well as the turnpike and I-90 quite a few times, and there are atretches of great, smooth, highway and horrible, bumpy mess. And there is always construction.
I read a lot of European car magazines and their general opinion is that roads in the US are horrible - but we have plenty of good roads. It's just that we have lots of bad ones too.
That reminds me of the parkways in New York. I worked and lived there for a few summers, about an hour north of NYC, and the parkways, (built mostly pre-1940) are insane. They were desgined to create a scenic driving experience in early-20th century automobiles - think 30-40mph. They are twisty, have narrow lanes, often no shoulders, infrequent exits and small stone overpasses that trucks can't pass under. And the exits. Oh my, the exits. The average speed of traffic is now 60-70mph, and the exits are often 90-degree corners only perhaps ten car-lengths long and they end in T-junction accross from a building or ditch. You have to brake HARD when you exit, because if you try to slow down on the parkway people will ride your bumper, so you have to perform the automotive equivalent of an aircraft-carrier landing. It's pretty terrifying at first.
A more correct statement would be that the quality of roads in the US varies greatly. This is because different states have different ways of maintaining roads and (perhaps more importantly) the US is a huge country with climates ranging from tropical to arctic and everything in between.
I've lived in Ohio, Michigan, and noe Alaska - all of which have harsh winters with freeze-thaw cycles that destroy roads quickly. Also, snow plows and salt/sand wreak havock on concrete and blacktop. Up in Alaska, many roads need to be resurfaced or extensively repaired every year. And speaking of Pennsylvania, I've driven accross the state on I-80/I-81 as well as the turnpike and I-90 quite a few times, and there are atretches of great, smooth, highway and horrible, bumpy mess. And there is always construction.
I read a lot of European car magazines and their general opinion is that roads in the US are horrible - but we have plenty of good roads. It's just that we have lots of bad ones too.
I remember living in Oklahoma, my single biggest and most consistent complaint about the roads is that the freeway on/off ramps are all of four or five car lengths long. You have almost NO time at all to get up to entry speed, or down to exiting speed, before you nearly collide with someone going the speed limit.
That reminds me of the parkways in New York. I worked and lived there for a few summers, about an hour north of NYC, and the parkways, (built mostly pre-1940) are insane. They were desgined to create a scenic driving experience in early-20th century automobiles - think 30-40mph. They are twisty, have narrow lanes, often no shoulders, infrequent exits and small stone overpasses that trucks can't pass under. And the exits. Oh my, the exits. The average speed of traffic is now 60-70mph, and the exits are often 90-degree corners only perhaps ten car-lengths long and they end in T-junction accross from a building or ditch. You have to brake HARD when you exit, because if you try to slow down on the parkway people will ride your bumper, so you have to perform the automotive equivalent of an aircraft-carrier landing. It's pretty terrifying at first.
Amen, brother!!!! I grew up on LI and the highways were always like you described. Slowly, and I'm sure, under great expensive, they started fixing the highways. Making the exits longer, adding lanes, etc. Plus, the east coast has such extreme weather, freezing in the winter, hold as heck in the summer, that difference is how cracks and potholes are created. Its hard enough to keep up with the repairs every year, forget about redesigning these roads for the 21 century. God damn, where are the flying cars already? The smart monorails? Transportation?
Sounds like you're describing the Taconic Parkway. I had the "pleasure" of driving that one once.
Sounds like you're describing the Taconic Parkway. I had the "pleasure" of driving that one once.
Good guess! I did drive a lot on the Taconic, as well as the Bear Mountain parkway. I also drove on the east side of the Hudson, on Route 9 from Beacon through Peekskill and on south. The Hudson Valley is a beautiful drive, but the roads can be hell. Whenever I went into the City I took the Metro North - much, much, much less hassle.
The highway (I-87?) on the west side of the Hudson that runs up to Albany is a much more "normal" interstate made to modern standards, and is much less crazy to drive.
By the way, the Taconic is rough, but I think I hated driving through New Jersey even more (I made a few trips from the Hudson Valley down to the Newark Airport. Yuck).
I assume you are not referring to Alaska. Or at least some of the bits I've been to where the "roads" consist of an old railroad bed that is bladed once or twice a year at most. And those are the easily passable ones.
Obviously none of you have been to MA.
Having been to the aforementioned New Orleans, and living my entire life in Rhode Island, I have to say the crown goes to NOLA. I've never seen such large and sudden changes in road level, particularly on the west bank.
But Boston roads do suck, eve more than Providence.
One of the reasons some of the roads in Cleveland are awful is because the city has left the original brick paving intact and they simply lay asphalt over it. The bricks move around a great deal during the (constant) freeze-thaw action of a NE Ohio winter, and it tears the hell out of the pavement. I've seen giant potholes open up in a day or two, and bent a rim on one of them once.
I wonder if cities like Boston and New York do the same. I actually like brick streets, they are charming - but putting asphalt over them seems to be a bad idea.
Obviously none of you have been to MA.
Best roads I've seen so far - California. But I haven't been around the country that much.
MA isn't even close to the worst!
One of the reasons some of the roads in Cleveland are awful is because the city has left the original brick paving intact and they simply lay asphalt over it. The bricks move around a great deal during the (constant) freeze-thaw action of a NE Ohio winter, and it tears the hell out of the pavement. I've seen giant potholes open up in a day or two, and bent a rim on one of them once.
I wonder if cities like Boston and New York do the same. I actually like brick streets, they are charming - but putting asphalt over them seems to be a bad idea.
Some streets in Providence are like this. I'm not sure about Boston.
The West Bank has perfect roads IMO, it's mid-city and elsewhere in Orleans Parish that's the problem. Just go down St Bernand Avenue and if you make it to the other side, then you are hell of a good driver.
GA roads are horrible, especially here in the city where they rip off half of it, reek hell as they force 3 lines of traffic into 1, and then throw metal plates over the holes, seal the sides, and call it a day.
Wish they would ban all road work here, now they're ripping up the sidewalks and replacing them with MORE METAL PLATES.
Wish they would ban all road work here, now they're ripping up the sidewalks and replacing them with MORE METAL PLATES.
Apparently, the roads are in the worst shape wherever people who always complain about bad road are driving at any given moment.
I'm from Louisiana, live in Delaware now, work in Maryland, and spend my summers in Maine. I've driven through a large percentage of the midwest and eastern part of the USA. Worst roads, by far... New Orleans.
At least in PA, the roads are rough but you won't lose parts of the underbelly of your car. In NOLA, if you don't swerve at times, huge mounds of concrete and asphalt (they're just called roads in New Orleans) will smack into the front of your car. It gets even worse in residential areas. Driving around Tulane, part of the experience is avoiding drunk drivers... the other is making sure your car survives the battlefield of the road system.
At least in PA, the roads are rough but you won't lose parts of the underbelly of your car. In NOLA, if you don't swerve at times, huge mounds of concrete and asphalt (they're just called roads in New Orleans) will smack into the front of your car. It gets even worse in residential areas. Driving around Tulane, part of the experience is avoiding drunk drivers... the other is making sure your car survives the battlefield of the road system.
Im sure freeze/thaw cycles have something to do with road condition, but I spent about 8 years living in western Montana, which has fairly similar weather to eastern PA...Long, cold winters, with hot summers, and the roads out there are in pretty good condition. Differences are the humidity levels, and of course traffic levels.
