Terrible Roads (Colorado Springs: live, cars, money)

[Trinity Florida]

Originally Posted by Charles

I didn't think the roads were that bad as far as potholes and cracks but I totally did notice the lack of high contrast road stripes for lanes and such. I think it has to do with the weather, road plows, maybe sand, sun, freezing/melting. Not much you can do except keep repainting unless there is a new scientific discovery. Can't do reflectors because the snow plows would scrape them off??

Nah they can use refelectors, they have them in ohio, indiana and wisconsin and they get alot more snow then here. As you notice they dont plow here either very well. I lived in Ohio for 30 years and the roads were generally cleared and they dropped REAL SALT so there was not road of ICE. Im not suprised at the number of accidents here as in the winter the roads are pure ice. Something I have not had much experience with in Ohio or other northern states I have lived in. As far as the lines you are right you cant tell what lanes you are in half the time you just kinda have to judge. you get used to it after you are here awhile.

[Trinity Florida]

Nah they can use refelectors, they have them in ohio, indiana and wisconsin and they get alot more snow then here. As you notice they dont plow here either very well. I lived in Ohio for 30 years and the roads were generally cleared and they dropped REAL SALT so there was not road of ICE. Im not suprised at the number of accidents here as in the winter the roads are pure ice. Something I have not had much experience with in Ohio or other northern states I have lived in. As far as the lines you are right you cant tell what lanes you are in half the time you just kinda have to judge. you get used to it after you are here awhile.

[jazzlover]

This constant whining about Colorado winter road maintenance is really funny. Colorado roads are definitely falling apart these days, but winter plowing and "treating" is much more aggressive now than it used to be. The vehicles and the tires on today's vehicles are also much better, and much more capable of handling bad winter road conditions than those of a few decades ago.

So why are people having so much trouble? Well, partly because there ARE a lot more vehicles on the roads than before. Ah, growth--ya gotta love it, right? Then there is the fact the a whole lot of people--because they have transplanted from warmer climates, or just because of plain ignorance, or just because they just don't want to learn--don't know how to drive in winter road conditions.

All I can say is the people complaining about conditions now should have had to drive a cruddy rear-wheel-drive car with no traction or automated braking devices, and relatively poor traction bias-ply tires on roads that saw relatively infrequent plowing and limited sanding (usually with no salt or mag chloride, either). That was the way it was for many years, and those of us who grew up in that environment managed to get around this state pretty well in winter--without all of the incessant complaining about how crappy the roads were. We were actually glad when the road was PAVED. When I was a kid just starting to drive, there were a number of STATE HIGHWAYS in the mountains that were still gravel. Today, we're all just SPOILED.

[Daniel24]

I asked a similar question several months ago on another thread and sort of got an answer. What Im really wanting to know is if you have to plow yourself, or does it depend on each town like peyton, etc?

[jazzlover]

Private roads and driveways are not the responsibility of the county, city, state, etc. to plow. There was a time when the county road plow might take a pass and plow a private drive as a favor to the property owner. The return favor often being a case of beer for the road crew, or the like--saw this done with the fire dept., too, on prescribed burns. Beer for the volunteer fire dept. boys if they came and made sure your prescribed burn didn't get out of hand. Those days ended long ago.

Public roads are maintained by the entity responsible for them--city, county, or state. That may or may not include winter maintenance. That depends on the location. Usually it will be denoted by a sign, a la "This road not maintained in winter beyond this point." Some roads may be plowed during the day, but not at night. There are even some state highways in this class. If you are unsure about winter plowing--ask. Plowing also affects school bus service--the buses won't run on roads that are not winter maintained.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Plowing also affects school bus service--the buses won't run on roads that are not winter maintained.

I've noticed this. Even though we live off a rinky-dink neighborhood road, this road is one of the first plowed because it is a school bus route.

Something to check into. A person considering a neighborhood to live in should find out where the bus routes are; those roads may be a higher priority.

[Postal]

Originally Posted by Trinity Florida

Actually compared to ohio indiana wisconsin and florida the roads here are really bad

Compared to Mississippi they are paved with gold where angels and bunnies float your car on a puff of air.

[ryanek9freak]

Yeah, but the salt in Ohio, DESTROYS your car. When I moved here, everyone made fun of my truck for being so rusty.

I guess they use mag chloride here, which isn't too bad, considering the shape of all the cars around here. ANd being an auto tech, i'm thrilled at the lack of rust under all the vehicles I work on. It makes my job so much easier.

[jimcf]

in reply to your question about city of fountain roads, the reason they are bad is simply mismanagement of funds and not willing to advance with the times, here water base paints are used instead of thermoplastic or thermal-epoxy paints, and traffic buttons are not used because no one wants to take the time to recess them for not only reflectivity but also clearance for snow plows.
Even snow and ice removal is done with salt sand when there are products which are 20% less corrosive and continue to melt snow and ice at lower temperatures (salt stops working at -2). and that alone would result in less material and overtime spent on roadways in the winter.

[Terytee]

They have repaved large portions of Academy Blvd this past year. It's much improved, especially the northern portions.

I'm sure they're going to finish it off. As for the painting...it does get done...eventually.