Houston, y'all need to fix your roads.. (Bellaire, Kirby: construction, live)

[OptimusPrime69]

Seriously, they're awful. All the surface streets are suuuper bumpy and patchy it's ridiculous. I feel like I'm driving over land mines...boom boom boom...it's like all these random patches and divets and bumps and potholes, what's the deal with that? It's actually pretty annoying to drive in Houston like that.. My car is being put through the ringer here, jeeeez. I feel like I need new shocks and I've been here for 3 weeks.

Someone care to explain why the roads here are so terrible? I mean really.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

Seriously, they're awful. All the surface streets are suuuper bumpy and patchy it's ridiculous. I feel like I'm driving over land mines...boom boom boom...it's like all these random patches and divets and bumps and potholes, what's the deal with that? It's actually pretty annoying to drive in Houston like that.. My car is being put through the ringer here, jeeeez. I feel like I need new shocks and I've been here for 3 weeks.

Someone care to explain why the roads here are so terrible? I mean really.

Don't drive in the right hand lane. Buses tear those lanes up.

[OptimusPrime69]

Originally Posted by txdemo

Don't drive in the right hand lane. Buses tear those lanes up.

lol if only it were just the right lanes then I wouldn't have a problem, but it aint. It's everywhere.

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

lol if only it were just the right lanes then I wouldn't have a problem, but it aint. It's everywhere.

Hyperbole.

[gwarnecke]

We're a huge, sprawling city, with a ton of infrastructure to maintain, clay soil that expands and shifts, a tight budget strained by the pension crisis, a "lowest bidder" mentality when it comes to public and private construction projects, a mayor whose idea of fixing a road is throwing some asphalt in the biggest potholes, and plenty of residents who drive twice as much vehicle as they need. It's a wonder our roads aren't any worse.

Having lived here for 12 years, I'll say that in some parts of town, the roads have improved dramatically. Shepherd Drive, Kirby Drive, Holcombe Drive, and others used to be war zones. Now they've been rebuilt and are fine. Other areas with generally good surface streets include downtown and most of the "pocket cities" within Houston (West U and the Memorial Villages, and to a lesser degree, Bellaire).

We still have a long way to go, though. Just get a smooth-riding car, pass on the 22" rims, and put up with it.

[radiolibre99]

Surprisingly I've noticed that in the nicest areas of the inner loop have incredibly bad roads. Did they ever fix that stretch of San Felipe from Uptown to River Oaks? It was really bumpy.

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

We're a huge, sprawling city, with a ton of infrastructure to maintain, clay soil that expands and shifts, a tight budget strained by the pension crisis, a "lowest bidder" mentality when it comes to public and private construction projects, a mayor whose idea of fixing a road is throwing some asphalt in the biggest potholes, and plenty of residents who drive twice as much vehicle as they need. It's a wonder our roads aren't any worse.

Correct reasons in black

Indirect reasons in gray

Incorrect reasons in white

[gwarnecke]

Well, in the sense that our roads were in poor shape before Turner was elected, and before our budget issues, I guess you have a point.

Regardless, if we had more money and a stronger commitment from those in charge to fully-rebuild more of our worst roads...

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I usually defend Houston, but can't/won't when it comes to the roads. Absolutely embarrassing anytime I have to drive someone from out of town around.

A crew will come out to dig a hole in the street for a utility, then another crew, hired at the lowest bid, comes in and shovels some asphalt in it, then uses a "goTdamn" soil compactor! Soil Compactor! Knuckleheads. And the city never comes out to inspect it. This is Houston's best and brightest. And so you end up with a heavily patched road, bumpy and really hard on the suspension of even trucks! This makes my blood boil!

Mayor Turner, if you read this, do something about it! Do you remember all the fast action before the superbowl? 'Notice it is back to business as usual afterwards?

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

Well, in the sense that our roads were in poor shape before Turner was elected, and before our budget issues, I guess you have a point.

Not only that, Turner has done more to fix the roads than the previous mayors before him; at least he's trying.