[JGatti]

Is it me, my car, or my route that I take to work? Holy $%#* Beck rd between 96 and 5 mile is part of my route to work and then Sheldon from 5 mile down to m-14 are some of the worst roads I have ever driven on. I know my old car drove smoother than the one I drive now but I just cannot get over how bad it is. Some parts are like driving over the wakes of another boat on a lake. One night between 6 and 7 if I remember right I counted 117 LARGE mounds that made my car really hop. Not holes, mounds in the roads. What the heck is going on? This is just terrible. They work on these roads yearly and they only seem to last a year. Is this some kind of job security plot on part of these companies doing the roads or what? Why can't they do something to fix them so they last just a tad longer? Ok sorry for venting but I'm frustrated and hate my drive to work normally, but the roads are so bad I hate the drive even more.

[Perferator]

Is this blacktop or concrete? If it's blacktop as it sounds like it then you are experiencing good ole fashioned frost heave. Some years are worse than others, the colder it has been the worse you will see the bumps. It's like speedbumps on the highway. Driving this wrangler can be exciting on some stretches.

[Jwo85]

Nothing beats the bump at the intersection of 16 mile and Van Dyke when heading east on 16 mile crossing over Van Dyke. Dukes of Hazzard air style!

[Coldjensens]

Yes, they can do someting. Are you prepared to pay for it?

Road repair costs money. MDOT has no money for road repair and upgrades. There is only one of two things that will realistically allow them to begin to catch up on repairs and replacement. First we need to get the state legistlature to require that the gas tax funds which were supposed to be for transportation improvements actually go to transportation improvements. Right now, very little of the gas tax money actually gets to MDOT. Second we will probably have to have an additional gas tax to fund road repair and replacement. Of course a gas tax will do no good if the state just takes the funds and diverts them to other uses as they do now.

Road repair and replacement is very expensive. Longer lasting roads cost more. Cheap repairs do not last that long. We are entering into an infrastructure crises. I was told that MDOT has already had to close some roads where a bridge failed or became unsafe and there was no money to replace the bridge.

People will grouse about an added gas tax, especially with all reports indicating that a huge increase in gas prices is on the horizon, but I would rather pay a little more for gas than pay for constant repairs to my car, and new tires, lost time, etc.

Hugely expensive sewer system repairs are desperately needed as well. How can we fund these repairs? Two ways, federal money and increased water/sewer rates. THe more our federal representatives can get from the federal government for sewer proejcts the less we will ahve to pay through increased rates. However skipping the repairs i s not an option. We cannot have sewave running down our streets and rivers.

There is an awful lot that needs to be done. A lot of needed work was postponed during the past three decades. Too much of the work from the 1960s and 1970s was done on a short term basis. This is a terrible time to have such a crises, but it is here. Much as I despise any new tax or fee, it is necessary to repair and upgrade out infrastructure and most of the money for these repairs and upgrades has to come from us.

[michmoldman]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Yes, they can do someting. Are you prepared to pay for it?

Road repair costs money. MDOT has no money for road repair and upgrades. There is only one of two things that will realistically allow them to begin to catch up on repairs and replacement. First we need to get the state legistlature to require that the gas tax funds which were supposed to be for transportation improvements actually go to transportation improvements. Right now, very little of the gas tax money actually gets to MDOT. Second we will probably have to have an additional gas tax to fund road repair and replacement. Of course a gas tax will do no good if the state just takes the funds and diverts them to other uses as they do now.

Road repair and replacement is very expensive. Longer lasting roads cost more. Cheap repairs do not last that long. We are entering into an infrastructure crises. I was told that MDOT has already had to close some roads where a bridge failed or became unsafe and there was no money to replace the bridge.

People will grouse about an added gas tax, especially with all reports indicating that a huge increase in gas prices is on the horizon, but I would rather pay a little more for gas than pay for constant repairs to my car, and new tires, lost time, etc.

Hugely expensive sewer system repairs are desperately needed as well. How can we fund these repairs? Two ways, federal money and increased water/sewer rates. THe more our federal representatives can get from the federal government for sewer proejcts the less we will ahve to pay through increased rates. However skipping the repairs i s not an option. We cannot have sewave running down our streets and rivers.

There is an awful lot that needs to be done. A lot of needed work was postponed during the past three decades. Too much of the work from the 1960s and 1970s was done on a short term basis. This is a terrible time to have such a crises, but it is here. Much as I despise any new tax or fee, it is necessary to repair and upgrade out infrastructure and most of the money for these repairs and upgrades has to come from us.

I seen a show on the infrastructure crisis the other day...scary!

[YAZ]

I got two flat tires at the same time in SE Michigan from a pot hole.

Needed to replace both rims too.

Nasty.

I like the dirt roads during the winter....no washboard action.

Summertime?

Use the 4 or 40 rule.

[NATIVEYOOPER]

Originally Posted by YAZ

I got two flat tires at the same time in SE Michigan from a pot hole.

Needed to replace both rims too.

Nasty.

I like the dirt roads during the winter....no washboard action.

Summertime?

Use the 4 or 40 rule.

What is the 4 or 40 rule exactly?

[Perferator]

Originally Posted by NATIVEYOOPER

What is the 4 or 40 rule exactly?

I'm going to take a guess and say it's best to go slow into a pothole at 4mph but if that is not possible than you best be doing at least 40mph so the tire zips over top.

How did I do, YAZ?

[wagonman76]

I'm pretty sure he's referring not so much to potholes but to washboards. Kinda hard to zip over a pothole but sometimes for washboards it works.

I've also heard another Michigan 4-40 rule. Your AC is broken and it's not worth it to fix it. 4 windows down at 40 mph is just as well.

[YAZ]

Perf & Wag did just fine; good job!

Those big craters are a lost cause no matter what speed.