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I am not saying that DOT and road construction in NC is all, 110% crooked, but even on a good day, it is the most incompetent in the nation.
I travel a lot, by road. It is truly laughable to go through four or five states in one day, including NC and simply observe the level of effort on any and all road constructions sites. The lack of effort and intensity in NC, and ONLY in NC sticks out like a sore thumb.
And then, with firm dates established, we get the old, "have to stop due to weather" BS. Did the cretins not know that winter was going to come around AGAIN, like it has for 4.5 Billion years?????? If you can't pave in November, how is any project gonna be complete in December? Pitiful.
Between politicians, crooked people on DOT, civil engineers (the Polish of the engineering profession) and sleazy contractors, I suppose we should be grateful for having more than cow paths. Come to think of it, given the stakeholders in road construction, I guess that there are any paved surfaces in this state is truly amazing.
I don't think NCDOT is the worst of them all (Georgia and Maryland immediately come to mind) but up until recently my biggest issue with them was all of this building superhighways to nowhere. I-73/74 through desolate rural parts of the state and highways like US 64 in the East that could suffice as a 2 lane road. They seem to have their priorities in order now though as projects in places like Charlotte are put near the top of the list.
I thought that Penn-DOT was the platinum standard for incompetence. On tbe other hand, SCDOT decided to rip out an overpass bridge for US 29 over I 85 last month to rebuild it. The project is going on right now.
That's not incompetence on the part of SCDOT, as that overpass on 29 is being re-built in order to accommodate the widening of I-85 from 4 to 6 lanes in SC for 10 miles in that area.
One thing that is for sure about 485, the new overhead signs on the inner-loop as you approach the I-77 interchange are some of the largest of the sort that I have ever seen in my life, especially for that purpose. The first time I drove under them I got the heebie jeebies, as those babies are HUGE.
Obviously the warmer climate at the southern side of 485 is the reason they decided to go ahead with the opening there. Meanwhile, those who live in the very frigid north side will have to wait until the spring thaws before they can open the lanes there.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by AmericanRoadGirl
That's not incompetence on the part of SCDOT, as that overpass on 29 is being re-built in order to accommodate the widening of I-85 from 4 to 6 lanes in SC for 10 miles in that area.
One thing that is for sure about 485, the new overhead signs on the inner-loop as you approach the I-77 interchange are some of the largest of the sort that I have ever seen in my life, especially for that purpose. The first time I drove under them I got the heebie jeebies, as those babies are HUGE.
Good to see you again.
Thanks for the explanation. I assumed that it was being replaced as that overpass was nothing but patches.
It should be interesting to see if the states coordinate the widening. I suspect that if the Catawbas get the approval for a casino or a slots parlor that they will pay for widening of I 85 from exit 4 to exit 8. When the application was announced they had surveyors on that stretch of I 85 as well as Dixon School Rd & part of Kings Mountain Blvd. It was announced that they would pay for road improvements.
You can lay concrete in the winter, it's not as quick, and takes longer to cure but it's possible.
I'm from the Midwest and trust me, they do road construction 10 months out of the year. NCDoT is run by idiots down here. Poor planning and zero idea of how to manage their vendors.
If you haven't already, you'll soon find out that the idiocy found in the DoT extends to pretty much everyone and every department run by the state of North Carolina. There are no exceptions.
Much better flow. I haven't been hitting it around rush hour, but 4pmish when it used to start backing up. MUCH Better.
I like the pineville matthews road exit and they designed it right this time.
We'll get a better idea of how things will flow the first full week in January when everyone returns to work. Last night at 5:30 PM there was slowness heading east just before South Blvd to Rea Rd, but much better than before. Questions that remain at this time - Will there be a back up getting on 77 since cars are getting there faster and will the slim down at Rea Rd cause a slowdown there?
I think mornings on the inner are about 10 minutes better. The problem now is 77 North and I'm not sure how that is fixed. Outer mornings looks like exit to 521 is still an issue.
Outer afternoons are a little better but the backup has moved down to around 521. Don't if has just been the past few days or its caused by going 3-2 at Providence. I'll change my route today to check it out.
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