It’s a disgrace how rough and uneven American highways are, I just had a reason to travel from my home in South Florida to Raleigh in North Carolina, there were no flights available that were efficient for me to use, and I’ve got to say I don’t remember I95 being such a rough uncomfortable ride, between the lack of courtesy shown to drivers by over the road truckers, to the pot holes, that you needed to keep an eagle eye out for, to the drivers that are just plain ignorant of the rules of the road, the 14 hour drive was a nightmare, the only good thing was I got through the ride safely, but I remember road trips in the past were a thousand times more enjoyable.
Is it like this all over or is this just an east coast problem.
I haven't done a roadtrip since b/f Covid - I95 in SoFlo is a nightmare b/w the amount of traffic and at least in SoFlo it feels dangerous AF - when I head north out of SoFlo I have to traverse the 3 SoFlo counties of Miami-Dade; Broward; and Palm Beach; it's not till I get past Palm Beach County that the drive gets easier until I start approaching Melbourne that it picks up but nowhere as bad as SoFlo - b/w 2014 and 2019 I used to hit Cocoa Beach a couple times a year and halfway thru on I95 there was always construction (2 or 3 different sections) although I never saw crews (I assume they worked at night?).
I don't usually like taking long roadtrips and rather fly when I can - the longest roadtrip I've done is once Miami to ATL but I didn't use I95 - also driven to Jax a time or two on 95 and didn't find it too-bad; longest I've been on 95 is Miami to South-GA (Midway GA) and didn't find it too bad - 95 is a very-heavily-used interstate and I wouldn't doubt there are some bad-sections but on my short trips I've only found the road-surface kinda rough in the construction-areas.
The car one uses can also make a difference w.r.t. long drives and how the road feels.
My local-surface-streets in the area of Miami I live are not-too-bad but some smaller side streets can be in bit rough shape but they are more the exception - the freeways I find mostly smooth.
^ I’m telling you the road surface was rough in more areas than it was smooth I thought they were going to do some infrastructure work but there’s many areas under construction but the surfaces are in terrible condition, as an American it’s shameful that our roads should be this bad.
@ Papi
You know what I’m driving it’s no jalopy
I live in Michigan. All the trash politicians are constantly campaigning on fixing the roads but nothing ever seems to get done. and there is continuous construction that is not much more than putting a band-aid on a bullet wound type deals.
In the last couple years I’ve damaged all of my tires (had to replace) in multiple drives where I didn’t see a pothole….#puremichigan
There are insane potholes and messed up roads on the east coast. The money is eaten up by moochers, looters and leeches so nothing is invested into repairing roads properly. The tax dollars arent being allocated properly
^ I haven’t driven very far up till this latest trip I was shocked at how bad the roads were, central North Carolina was like driving on an old cobblestone road only traffic was averaging about 85 MPH, South Carolina wasn’t much better, Georgia was pretty bad about 50% of the roads and Florida was smoother but where the roads were rough they were incredibly bad, if you’re on the FL turnpike between Ft Pierce and Ft Lauderdale it’s terrible with construction, congestion, and lousy drivers combined with the rough roads if you can avoid it stay off the turnpike.
Highways around here seem to be in about the same shape as always. Living in the upper midwest you learn to expect a certain level of potholes especially in the winter. There seems to be constant construction lately, but again that is nothing new.
I have noticed that a lot of drivers seem to have less patience and exhibit less courtesy than in the past. As I was driving up I71 from Cincinnati to Columbus last week I had the cruise control set at 85 (in a 70 mph zone) and had some asshole come up behind me blowing his horn and flashing his lights, when I didn't immediately move to the right to let him by he blew past me on the left shoulder. As he went by he yelled out the window that I should "keep my slow ass in the right lane".
“… if you’re on the FL turnpike between Ft Pierce and Ft Lauderdale it’s terrible with construction, congestion, and lousy drivers combined with the rough roads if you can avoid it stay off the turnpike …”
I’m kinda the opposite – I prefer the FL Turnpike over I95 – for one; it’s a toll-road and IME it’s usually a bit less-traffic – also, 95 seems to have a significant # of more exits (and exits closer together) which IMO increases congestion – the Turnpike also has rest-stops w/ gas-stations where one can usually more-conveniently gas-up or get a quick-bite to eat if one is starving – I assume there may be bad-sections of the FL Turnpike but overall my experience w/ the Turnpike has been better than 95.
“… @ Papi You know what I’m driving it’s no jalopy …”
When I previously posted about the car one drives and roadtrips; it wasn’t necessarily w.r.t. it being a good or bad car – i.e. I know you drive a Benz sports-coupe – these kinda cars are often tuned for performance to some extent (some models more than others) – sometimes they have a tighter-suspension for performance/handling and also sometimes they have tires designed for performance/handling; and these performance tweaks can often be at the expense of ride-comfort and sometimes one does not realize this till they do a long trip (vs a car designed/tuned for luxury and the smoothest most-comfortable ride possible vs performance-tuned).
SoFlo, particularly the Miami-area that I’m most familiar with; has been constantly growing and constantly had an influx of people – i.e. I don’t see as much old-stuff (buildings; roads; etc) in SoFlo/Miami vs other areas that may not be growing as fast or have had as big an influx of people over time.
When I lived in Dallas in the 2000s I encountered more “old stuff” (buildings etc) and I found more bad old roads than what I was used to in Miami; same thing the few-times I’ve been up-north – one would also wonder if the extreme-weather in many areas significantly contributes to the condition of the roads whether it’s the extreme-cold up-north or the extreme-heat in places like Dallas where in recent summers there have been stretches were it would be over 100-degrees every-day for over a month.
California roads can be pretty rough. If you are in a passenger vehicle/pick up/smaller Uhaul stay out of the right two lanes. The big rigs must Stat in those by law and those heavy loads take their toll.
The city of LA surface streets are pretty ugly for the most part. The local cities vary in how bad or good the roads are.
Metro Detroit roads took out four OEM wheels on my previous car. Not the tires - but dented the actual wheels. These roads are worse than cobblestone roads
Part of the reason I want to make my next-car a mid-size-SUV (currently drive a small-sedan) is that I assume their wheels are more resistant to damage from bad-roads (or bad-driving).
Get one of those big foot trucks, not only will you never worry about pot hole damage to your wheels, you can just roll over the lousy drivers that have the temerity to get in your way
😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠
🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜
In my experience, best roads and most polite drivers are in Virginia (outside of the DC metro). Roads and drivers around San Diego are also very nice.
The problem with South Florida highways are that they are in a perpetual state of construction. I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t construction on I-95 or the Turnpike. We also added 700,000 more cars to our roads since 2020.
And then there are the drivers which are a toxic mix of New Yorkers always in a hurry, Senior Citizens who wander around aimlessly, recent immigrants who learned to drive in some 3rd World banana republic, soccer moms on the phone, and that guy who just leased a new Porsche or Lambo and wants to see how fast it can go.
Having no state mandated vehicle inspections or emissions testing does not help the situation.
Ugh. VA drivers are awful. Maryland’s are no better.
Maryland road conditions directly correspond to the wealth of the county or city where they are. You can often feel the seam in the road when you cross a county line and go from rough to smooth or vice versa. We’re mostly above average in wealth so most of our roads are fine until you get into Baltimore or some of the poorer counties, like PG.
I think the interstates in the Atlanta metro area are in good shape. Not so much for the traffic. There are a lot of urban streets in the City of Atlanta are in terrible shape but I so see efforts to repair then. No problems in my suburb. I do have to remark about the 6 miles of Georgia hwy54. It has been under construction for over 2 years to widen it from a 2 lane county road to a modern 4 lane highway. They had to widen 3 bridges and the are adding curbs, side walks and bike lanes. I don't see the need for all of that but maybe down the road it will make sense.
Presently in Georgia the gas tax has been put on hold to give us some relief at the pump. This of course cuts into the funds for road repairs. Which brings up. How are road repairs going to be made when we don't have gas automobiles anymore? How are we going to tax the electricity that the EV's use?
I also believe the amount of overweight trucks on the roads is a major contributing factor to the deterioration of the roads, I noticed many troopers regulating traffic and writing summonses as I'm sure they are large source of revenue for the states, but most of the discourtesy and the most egregious tailgating and passing infractions were being committed by the "so called" professional drivers operating large and oversized vehicles. I wondered why more attention isn't paid to enforcing laws, against that group of drivers.
Twentyfive - I think in Georgia that the state troopers are in fact pulling over more big rigs than standard vehicles. I don't know what citations are being given for. I would think speeding because there is no way they could check weight except at weigh stations.
^ Driving north bound on Wednesday, there were plenty of trucks waiting in the weigh stations, but coming home on Sunday the weigh stations were all closed, and there was a notable reduction in smaller vehicle traffic, but the goddamn semis were not only all over the place, I also counted considerably more tandem, and triple rigs, than I saw on the ride up.
where I live in rural Northern Arizona I've got to watch the road surface carefully. in rural socal the roads usually are better. but everywhere I drive in my badass Prius. I got to be very aware with my 4 inches of ground clearance. it wasn't for the gas mileage. I'd rather be driving an old four-wheel drive suburban.
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I don't usually like taking long roadtrips and rather fly when I can - the longest roadtrip I've done is once Miami to ATL but I didn't use I95 - also driven to Jax a time or two on 95 and didn't find it too-bad; longest I've been on 95 is Miami to South-GA (Midway GA) and didn't find it too bad - 95 is a very-heavily-used interstate and I wouldn't doubt there are some bad-sections but on my short trips I've only found the road-surface kinda rough in the construction-areas.
The car one uses can also make a difference w.r.t. long drives and how the road feels.
@ Papi
You know what I’m driving it’s no jalopy
In the last couple years I’ve damaged all of my tires (had to replace) in multiple drives where I didn’t see a pothole….#puremichigan
I have noticed that a lot of drivers seem to have less patience and exhibit less courtesy than in the past. As I was driving up I71 from Cincinnati to Columbus last week I had the cruise control set at 85 (in a 70 mph zone) and had some asshole come up behind me blowing his horn and flashing his lights, when I didn't immediately move to the right to let him by he blew past me on the left shoulder. As he went by he yelled out the window that I should "keep my slow ass in the right lane".
I’m kinda the opposite – I prefer the FL Turnpike over I95 – for one; it’s a toll-road and IME it’s usually a bit less-traffic – also, 95 seems to have a significant # of more exits (and exits closer together) which IMO increases congestion – the Turnpike also has rest-stops w/ gas-stations where one can usually more-conveniently gas-up or get a quick-bite to eat if one is starving – I assume there may be bad-sections of the FL Turnpike but overall my experience w/ the Turnpike has been better than 95.
When I previously posted about the car one drives and roadtrips; it wasn’t necessarily w.r.t. it being a good or bad car – i.e. I know you drive a Benz sports-coupe – these kinda cars are often tuned for performance to some extent (some models more than others) – sometimes they have a tighter-suspension for performance/handling and also sometimes they have tires designed for performance/handling; and these performance tweaks can often be at the expense of ride-comfort and sometimes one does not realize this till they do a long trip (vs a car designed/tuned for luxury and the smoothest most-comfortable ride possible vs performance-tuned).
When I lived in Dallas in the 2000s I encountered more “old stuff” (buildings etc) and I found more bad old roads than what I was used to in Miami; same thing the few-times I’ve been up-north – one would also wonder if the extreme-weather in many areas significantly contributes to the condition of the roads whether it’s the extreme-cold up-north or the extreme-heat in places like Dallas where in recent summers there have been stretches were it would be over 100-degrees every-day for over a month.
The city of LA surface streets are pretty ugly for the most part. The local cities vary in how bad or good the roads are.
😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠
🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜🚜
The roads are bad everywhere.
The worst roads are in Louisiana and Missouri.
The problem with South Florida highways are that they are in a perpetual state of construction. I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t construction on I-95 or the Turnpike. We also added 700,000 more cars to our roads since 2020.
And then there are the drivers which are a toxic mix of New Yorkers always in a hurry, Senior Citizens who wander around aimlessly, recent immigrants who learned to drive in some 3rd World banana republic, soccer moms on the phone, and that guy who just leased a new Porsche or Lambo and wants to see how fast it can go.
Having no state mandated vehicle inspections or emissions testing does not help the situation.
Maryland road conditions directly correspond to the wealth of the county or city where they are. You can often feel the seam in the road when you cross a county line and go from rough to smooth or vice versa. We’re mostly above average in wealth so most of our roads are fine until you get into Baltimore or some of the poorer counties, like PG.
Presently in Georgia the gas tax has been put on hold to give us some relief at the pump. This of course cuts into the funds for road repairs. Which brings up. How are road repairs going to be made when we don't have gas automobiles anymore? How are we going to tax the electricity that the EV's use?
After a bad winter, with snow and ice, the roads can be dangerous with large unexpected potholes.