Do other states have Michigan's road problems? (Detroit, Grand Rapids: maintenance, travel)

[mackinac81]

While I was stalled in road construction today I wondered: Is the whole summer= construction season a Michigan thing? An upper midwest thing? Do other states have as big a problem with potholes and road repair as we do?

Mackinac

[Michigansnowflake]

I dont know. All I know is its wonderful to be away from all the noise and construction and cement. 95% of the roads I drive on are dirt...and I like it that way

[baystater]

Originally Posted by mackinac81

While I was stalled in road construction today I wondered: Is the whole summer= construction season a Michigan thing? An upper midwest thing? Do other states have as big a problem with potholes and road repair as we do?

Mackinac

Nope. Michigan ain't the only state. I think Massachusetts as has road renewal projects since the 1970's. I swear since I been driving every year there some type of road work fooking up traffic. Seriously it never ends. New Jersey is no prize either though not as bad as MA. the only semi-good thing is that now they try to do most of the work in the evening say starting at 7pm. But it still a major hassle alot of the time.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by mackinac81

While I was stalled in road construction today I wondered: Is the whole summer= construction season a Michigan thing? An upper midwest thing? Do other states have as big a problem with potholes and road repair as we do?

Mackinac

It depends on how much they spend on roads. One of our problems is they went several years without proper maintenance so we're making up for lost time. When you live in the freeze-thaw cycle belt, you have to keep up on the roads. Mother nature wins every time.

[Iggs]

Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana always has construction going on. We also have those LOVELY tolls too. : (

[burgler09]

It is all states that get a wide range in temperature. Cement isn't made to take the ice because it gets in the cracks and expands.. think of putting a pop can or glass in the freezer, check it in a day and its cracked. The same goes for the streets. Basically the entire midwest :P

[thePR]

The news stations in Chicago always have something about if you see a pothole to report it to the city. Some areas are really nasty with the huge potholes. Of course there is also never ending construction.

[burgler09]

Grand Rapids also does.

[tablemtn]

One issue is that the Detroit metro area has an awful lot of lane-miles per resident compared to other metro areas, due to the nature of its sprawl. So it takes longer to rotate roads around the maintenance cycle. By the time they are maintained, they tend to be in fairly bad condition, and have to be at least partially rebuilt, which requires more delays and time.

[xz2y]

States like Michigan that have a lot of semi-truck traffic on major interstates coupled with freeze-thaw cycles in the winter get a double whammy for construction. I-94 that runs from Chicago to Detroit and is a heavily traveled route for big trucks; it always (and I mean always) has construction on some part of it. Also, there is need to widen some of the routes in Michigan, such as one of the north-south routes, 23, which is jammed with trucks and cars due to unchecked sprawl and development with no planning. Mucho accidents on 23 all the time, and perpetual construction. The metro Detroit area also has no "ring road" highway going around it to use as a bypass, as other large metro areas do, so the roads are much more heavily used and therefore in constant need of repair.