Roads in cleveland/North East Ohio vs Detoit/MI

[averysgore]

Ever notice how much better the roads in Canada are than in the northern US? The heavily traveled roads, at least. I drove to Nova Scotia last summer, and the pavement was just immaculately smooth on the Canadian side, much better than any of the New England states you drive through to get there. I remember Ontario's roads being in great shape too.

Anyway, that's proof that the weather can't be the only factor.

[Cleverfield]

Canada gets less snow, and less freeze-thaw than areas south and east of the Great Lakes.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Canada is a whole different country, eh. It is truly an apples to oranges comparison. Canadians pay about 33% in fuel excise tax (at around $4.75/gal, the tax is about $1.55/gal) which goes to fund a variety of infrastructure programs. In the US, the average is $0.495/gal (or, at $3.25, about 15%). The US has 47,182 miles of Interstate highway, Canada has about 5,000 miles of the same type of highway. Canada pulls in about $500,000 in revenue per lane mile of interstate per year. The US pulls in about $400,000. This is, of course, a rough indicator as maintenance requirements can vary quite a bit from area to area. The point is, Canada generally has more revenue to work with and that will, of course, have a major effect on road quality.