What do Austin and Baghdad have in common? Condition of roads. (Houston: 2015, utilities)

[curious1111]

10scoachrick has got it right.

For the people that think the roads are fine, totally disagree, etc...do you travel much? I love Austin. They will bury me here. But just saying, empirically, these are like the worst roads on earth. Not out on beautifull 2222, or highways, etc. I am talking downtown and surrounding areas, let's say within the borders of 35 on the east (although certainly not good beyond that either), Mopac on west (again, it doesnt stop there, but for this case), 290 south, and 183 on the north. Within that box, the surface streets are absolutely awful. There are pockets where they have recently re-paved, and that's wonderful, but a tiny minority. Much worse than San Antonio, Houston, LA for that matter...

For those that keep mentioning toll roads, northwest Austin, etc...not talking about those areas. Talking about central Austin.

[car957]

I thought he was talking about the roads in this place:

BAGDAD, TX | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)

[Trainwreck20]

+10 miles radius

So, 300+ sq miles of Austin? From Parmer up north, to 1626 down south (Manchaca area), to as far East as Manor (but south of it) and west well past the Y' in Oakhill? I have lived and frequent areas in that circle, and most have really nice roads.

[dv1033]

Disagree. Go to the NE or travel to Houston to view 3rd world style roads.

[curious1111]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Disagree. Go to the NE or travel to Houston to view 3rd world style roads.

At both often. Houson a lot. Next week in Parsippany and Woodcliff Lake in NJ, have been to both before. Great roads. I will give it to you that Manhattan maybe has worst roads downtown, but not east side or upper....

Our roads are terrible in Central Austin. And my strong theory is the people saying otherwise dont travel much. Maybe that is why they are saying "I have traveled those roads my whole life, or I have lived here my whole life".

[10scoachrick]

A lot of the nice highways are TXDot maintained, not CoA. We see the difference here in north-north Austin where TXDot maintains Parmer, but CoA handles Avery Ranch Blvd. The roads are fine; but the approach to maintenance is different.

[10scoachrick]

And of course it's different for a 50-65 mph highway vs surface streets, but even main drags in town are pretty chewed up and lumpy. You can literally bounce you way along on stretches of 5th and 6th.

[centralaustinite]

I still don't see it. I spend hours driving in central Austin every day, I am always within the borders of Ben White (S), MoPac (west), 183 (north), I go east of I35 daily too. Today, I drove on River, Rainey, Cesar Chavez, Waller, Congress, Oltorf, I35, St. John, Huntland, Airport, Live Oak, South First, Lamar, and Ben White.

The condition of any of the roads doesn't even register on my radar. I spent 3-4 hours every weekday in my car in central Austin. Blood pressure says even.

[DRVNFAST]

Harris Branch Parkway near Applied Materials (between Parmer and 290 is ridiculous). The worst piece of road I have ever had the misfortune of driving on.

[orngkat]

Earler today while out walking (central Austin), I wasn't paying attention, tripped and fell after stepping in a hole in the street. It was about two inches deep and had a faded square neon painted around it as if it were marked for repair...many months ago.