Deleware Rant

[flybouy]

I apologize to anyone from the state but good golly who builds the roads? Headed to beautiful Delaware Seashore State Park today. As soon as I crossed the state line it felt like I was riding in a Rodeo. It’s a flat state so why can’t they build a flat roadway? I realize it’s a sand dune but really, other states can do it.

Second rant ... bridge transitions. I think the guy that builds the road to bridge transition built ski jumps before signing on. He probably got fired for building the ski jumps too steep. Maybe he worked for Evil Keneivel building his jump ramps.

Sorry, but I feel better now but my neck is still hurting. I’ll take another pain pill and crank up the cervical spinal chord stimulator. By morning the blurry vision from my eyeballs bouncing like the ping pong balls in the lotto machine should clear.

[sourdough]

I feel for you. I've told DW every time we pass through LA (state - every time) that it seems that they thought you were going for a ski jump every time you come to any little bridge over a stream or crossing. I learned my lesson first go through at 65 mph and the front tires left the ground. Don't know why they did it but I tell DW that whoever built that should be drawn and quartered every time an innocent soul passes over those atrocities.

[notanlines]

I'll pile on a little also. Ever notice when the repair people set up with the big concrete saws and cut out and patch about 150 bad joints on 2 miles of highway it is NEVER smoother when finished? Yes, Birmingham, Alabama, I'm talking about Y0U!

[flybouy]

DW has a lifelong friend who’s father was a highway engineer for the state (MD). When I first met him I asked why it was, every time they built or repaved a road that within 6 months someone would come along and tear it up. The patchwork was never smooth. He said those were county not state roads.

I still laugh when I think about that.

Now it’s my home state turn. Two major road complaints (trust me there are many) but the “top two”.
1. Left lane exit/on ramps. Folks either slow down to a crawl before getting on the exit ramp or pull into the passing lane before getting up to speed. And of course when the exit ramp looms directly ahead you have the apparently illiterate guy who didn’t read the sign and is 4 lanes over and hits the brakes and dives for it.

2. Asphalt roads and stop lights with heavy truck traffic. Near me there’s a stop light at the bottom of a steep hill. At 55, you pop over the hill and there it is about 600 feet away. They put in the flashing “red light ahead” lights at the top of the hill but most people read that as “better pick up speed to beat the light”. So it’s August, hotter than ants under a kids magnifying glass, the blacktop is soft. The 80k truck comes barreling down on a red light. They stand on the brakes and the hot asphalt starters rolling up like breakers on the beach.

That situation was present until about 40 years ago when the state came, dug up that asphalt for about 100’ and poured concrete. Problem solved! Unfortunately they took this as a permanent fix and haven’t been back. Now that concrete looks like the road out of Kuwait at the end of the Gulf War “turkey shoot”. But the good news is they apparently saved the removed blacktop and are “repurposing it” to fill in the pot holes in the concrete.

I guess the “ can’t fix stupid” holds true for the bureaucrats that run the state.

[LewisB]

The Arizona state flower is the orange traffic cone! Arizona is renowned for having a 50 mile stretch of freeway designated as a "construction zone" with a 45 mph speed limit (down from 75). You can drive through this for several weeks and NEVER see a construction worker - but there is almost ALWAYS a radar cop. So it is like state sanctioned speed traps...it would be a lot cheaper if they just stopped every out-of-state car at the border and just charged a $200 entry fee.

:hide: Just sayin'....

[dutchmensport]

You can't drive anywhere in the state of Indiana from point A to point B with out hitting road construction and being detoured, and even the detours are detoured. I guess this year, they decided (early in the year), that with the Covid thing going on, and originally, no one was driving anywhere, it was a great time to fix roads. Unfortunately, they decided to fix them all at once. And they sure have been slow doing it too!

Meanwhile, traffic opened up and face it, in Indiana, you just can't get "there" if you need or want to.

Unfortunately .... it will be 2 weeks after they completely finish a road and have it baby-butt smooth, they'll start digging it up again and then in a short while, the whole thing is horrible again.

I live on a back county road. it's cip-n-seal. And it's smoother than any Indiana interstate, has been for years and years now.

[gearhead]

Yep Birmingham AL, We're talking you, and Orange Texas I 10, and I 49 north of Alexandria LA, and &&&, and .....

[Old Mustanger]

Add I840, (Nashville bypass), bridge joints jar your teeth loose. I30 in Arkansas about 20 to 30 miles outside of Little Rock can make you sea sick. :banghead:

[jasin1]

DW has a lifelong friend who’s father was a highway engineer for the state (MD). When I first met him I asked why it was, every time they built or repaved a road that within 6 months someone would come along and tear it up. The patchwork was never smooth. He said those were county not state roads.

I still laugh when I think about that.

Now it’s my home state turn. Two major road complaints (trust me there are many) but the “top two”.
1. Left lane exit/on ramps. Folks either slow down to a crawl before getting on the exit ramp or pull into the passing lane before getting up to speed. And of course when the exit ramp looms directly ahead you have the apparently illiterate guy who didn’t read the sign and is 4 lanes over and hits the brakes and dives for it.

2. Asphalt roads and stop lights with heavy truck traffic. Near me there’s a stop light at the bottom of a steep hill. At 55, you pop over the hill and there it is about 600 feet away. They put in the flashing “red light ahead” lights at the top of the hill but most people read that as “better pick up speed to beat the light”. So it’s August, hotter than ants under a kids magnifying glass, the blacktop is soft. The 80k truck comes barreling down on a red light. They stand on the brakes and the hot asphalt starters rolling up like breakers on the beach.

That situation was present until about 40 years ago when the state came, dug up that asphalt for about 100’ and poured concrete. Problem solved! Unfortunately they took this as a permanent fix and haven’t been back. Now that concrete looks like the road out of Kuwait at the end of the Gulf War “turkey shoot”. But the good news is they apparently saved the removed blacktop and are “repurposing it” to fill in the pot holes in the concrete.

I guess the “ can’t fix stupid” holds true for the bureaucrats that run the state.


Let me guess.....RT 40 and Joppa Farm Road?....I was on it the other day what a mess
Also in MD they work on all the roads at once. Even if it’s just cones and one work truck parked on the shoulder.
My thinking is the general contractor doesn’t want to lose the contract so he has someone “working” on the section of road every day..
I met a guy building decks in a townhouse community that said he would start a bunch of decks all at one time and deliver material.
Then he would just take his time and do one at a time because he felt like the people were backed into a corner and would be too much trouble for them to find someone else.

[flybouy]

Let me guess.....RT 40 and Joppa Farm Road?....I was on it the other day what a mess
Also in MD they work on all the roads at once. Even if it’s just cones and one work truck parked on the shoulder.
My thinking is the general contractor doesn’t want to lose the contract so he has someone “working” on the section of road every day..
I met a guy building decks in a townhouse community that said he would start a bunch of decks all at one time and deliver material.
Then he would just take his time and do one at a time because he felt like the people were backed into a corner and would be too much trouble for them to find someone else.

Yup, that's it. On the eastbound side there's several potholes that the state throws blacktop on every couple of years. They never look for the cause so it it can be fixed properly. If you start up that hill when you hit the pot holes look to your right and you'll see a fire hydrant up on the bank. That thing leaked for over 20 years undermining the road.

I know I called the state and county at least a dozen times to report it over the years. And yet, if I use a few extra gallons of water the county sends me a letter warning me of my "excess water usage" and to check my toilets for a leaking flapper. Just got to love the government bureaucracy and idiocracy. They finally fixed the hydrant a couple of years ago but that didn't fix the road properly.

[jasin1]

Yup, that's it. On the eastbound side there's several potholes that the state throws blacktop on every couple of years. They never look for the cause so it it can be fixed properly. If you start up that hill when you hit the pot holes look to your right and you'll see a fire hydrant up on the bank. That thing leaked for over 20 years undermining the road.

I know I called the state and county at least a dozen times to report it over the years. And yet, if I use a few extra gallons of water the county sends me a letter warning me of my "excess water usage" and to check my toilets for a leaking flapper. Just got to love the government bureaucracy and idiocracy. They finally fixed the hydrant a couple of years ago but that didn't fix the road properly.
The army could use that stretch of road for a proving ground..test the fire control stability on M1A1’s..lol

[flybouy]

The army could use that stretch of road for a proving ground..test the fire control stability on M1A1’s..lol

LOL, yup, every time I drive that west bound I look overhead expecting "incoming". If your stopped in the turn lane and one of the dump trucks go barreling over that area it sounds like mortar rounds impacting.:hide:

[jasin1]

LOL, yup, every time I drive that west bound I look overhead expecting "incoming". If your stopped in the turn lane and one of the dump trucks go barreling over that area it sounds like mortar rounds impacting.:hide:

Lol that is funny!

[wiredgeorge]

You Turtlepins have obviously never driven across Loooooosyana on IH10 or IH20. That would put your road situation in perspective. OK, a serious question. Why can US interstates in one state be fine and when you cross the state border they are HORRIBLE (see Louisiana IH10/IH20)? Does the Fed provide road maintenance?

[jasin1]

You Turtlepins have obviously never driven across Loooooosyana on IH10 or IH20. That would put your road situation in perspective. OK, a serious question. Why can US interstates in one state be fine and when you cross the state border they are HORRIBLE (see Louisiana IH10/IH20)? Does the Fed provide road maintenance?

Yup good point. I guess it’s because some states dip into the transportation funds for “special” projects.

[flybouy]

My understanding is that the interstate highway system funding is supplemented by the Feds but it's the state that decides where that money gets spent. Many things work this way, schools, airports, harbours, intercoastal waterway,railroads, etc. They mandate certain things to receive the money like using minority contractors, following federal DOT regs, ect.

[roadglide]

Here in NM the base corse Foundation is clay the roads crack next repair is to come along with a paint truck spraying black paint on the roads that may or may not get striped next a construction sign is placed thanking governor Lujan.

[Ken / Claudia]

What he said, a few years ago I read the amounts of DOT collected funds and where they go. Many years ago it was to the roads/tunnels/bridges. In Oregon
now only 40% gets to what the tax was designed for. Even when they go to the roads there must be xx percent set aside for beautification. Art work/grass and trees. In Oregon they clear out some of that stuff they just installed so homeless cannot hide. Another area, Portland. ODOT spend. 2.5 million installing rock where it was once beautiful next the highways. They were spending over 1 million a year clearing out garage and homeless camps. As soon as they cleared it, replanted the area it became a tent city again. All the poop and needles left cost Haze mat type clean up and disposal. That's were some of the gas tax money goes.
Forgot to mention, camping, living on state highway property is illegal. Making the homeless move all the time was causing them stress. (yes this is no joke) So, Portland created a law. The homeless must get a 30 day notice before being forced to leave state lands. DOT must keep all the personal stuff they remove and store it so they homeless can come and get it back. Just an example of why the roads do not get maintained as they should.

[jasin1]

My understanding is that the interstate highway system funding is supplemented by the Feds but it's the state that decides where that money gets spent. Many things work this way, schools, airports, harbours, intercoastal waterway,railroads, etc. They mandate certain things to receive the money like using minority contractors, following federal DOT regs, ect.

In MD They use it to balance the budget after funding a long list of special interest projects and programs. I think they are trying to change that but then they will probably just borrow from the state pension system. Somewhere is a big box of iou’s

[jasin1]

My understanding is that the interstate highway system funding is supplemented by the Feds but it's the state that decides where that money gets spent. Many things work this way, schools, airports, harbours, intercoastal waterway,railroads, etc. They mandate certain things to receive the money like using minority contractors, following federal DOT regs, ect.

Also everyone will agree that a 2 million dollar grant for a 10year study on the mating habits of the spotted hairy lipped albino butterfly is a worthwhile allocation of funds

[wiredgeorge]

I say give ME a line item veto on all budgets across the country! First thing I would do is pave ALL the county roads in Medina County. We have more miles of roads in my county district than all of the miles of roads in Uvalde County and they are BIG. Our annual road budget is $32K and we have a truck that goes around with a driver and a guy with a shovel and they toss cold patch on the larger craters turning them into mini-ski jumps. Next thing I would do is provide free breakfasst tacos to all the tax paying individuals in the Mico area (bacon, potato and cheese, thank you). After that I would fire anyone who wanted to be in charge and try and find some honest, hard working folk to make the decisions; just noted that the newest Covid relief package included $40 MILLION bucks going to the Kennedy Center where they have laid off most of the workers. Go GUBBERMINT!

[jasin1]

:lol::lol:I say give ME a line item veto on all budgets across the country! First thing I would do is pave ALL the county roads in Medina County. We have more miles of roads in my county district than all of the miles of roads in Uvalde County and they are BIG. Our annual road budget is $32K and we have a truck that goes around with a driver and a guy with a shovel and they toss cold patch on the larger craters turning them into mini-ski jumps. Next thing I would do is provide free breakfasst tacos to all the tax paying individuals in the Mico area (bacon, potato and cheese, thank you). After that I would fire anyone who wanted to be in charge and try and find some honest, hard working folk to make the decisions; just noted that the newest Covid relief package included $40 MILLION bucks going to the Kennedy Center where they have laid off most of the workers. Go GUBBERMINT!