Kansas Has the Nation's Best Roads (work, good, people)

[psulions2007]

Wichita has great roads whether it is in downtown, cow town, or on the freeways (hooray US 54 and I-135!)

[kcmo]

Again, MO "had" the worst roads in the country. In the past 3-7 years, a lot has changed and in the past 2-3 years, even more has changed. I know how bad the roads were in MO. They were so bad that I wrote to elected officials in Jeff City quite often, especially after my wife damage our car on I-70.

But....that is simply not the case any more. Regardless of how good the roads in KS are, the roads in MO are in much better shape now. There is no way the state is 44th "today". That data used to rank the state 44th is old data.

And if you read how the report was formed, it was due to accidents, congestion and condition of roads and bridges. Missouri has much more congestion and higher traffic volumes, so that probably hurt them some, but accidents are down (especially after the cables were installed) and the road are in better shape. How can you say they are not unless you don't drive on them?

MoDOT News Release

Jan "2010"

Road conditions in the Show Me State have been steadily improving since 2004 when only 47 percent of highways were in good condition.* That year Missouri voters approved Amendment 3, which redirected some revenue back to roads and bridges.
"People tell me they know when they drive into Missouri because the roads get better.* They used to tell me it was because the roads got worse," MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said.

MoDOT News Release

JEFFERSON CITY - Truck drivers have voted Missouri roads as the fifth best in the nation.* They also voted Interstate 44 as the fourth most improved highway segment in a tie with Interstate 94 in Illinois.* The rankings came from a recent survey conducted by Overdrive magazine, a publication serving the commercial motor carrier industry.

I know it hurts to think that MO has decent roads since that is such a popular way for Kanans to look down on Missouri, but you need to find something else. That's so 2003 .

And one more time. Kansas has fine roads. Never said it didn't...

[DOUBLE H]

An out of stater weighing in here, actually posted on this thread a couple days ago. The one thing I appreciate about the roads in basically the Kansas City area, is the way the interstates and the highways in general are laid out. I have friends who live in Gladstone and I have always been able to maneuver around the KC area well.

Any of you people drive around in the Denver area? One word describes it-aggravating! Though the T-Rex construction on the south end of I-25 has helped a lot, it is still in spots an exercise in futility. And then there are the commuters from Denver to Colorado Springs, where car wrecks resulting in 5 mile backups are not uncommon at all. Sorry, I know this is a tad off topic, but as many big metro areas I've been in over the years, the KC road system is one of the best ones I've been on. Just my two cents.

[knrstz]

Someone made a comment about not giving any credit to Kansas about I35 since it's a toll road. I lived in Oklahoma most of my life and I can assure you that just because a road has tolls doesn't guarantee it's any good. 412 between stillwater and tulsa used to be horrible.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

An out of stater weighing in here, actually posted on this thread a couple days ago. The one thing I appreciate about the roads in basically the Kansas City area, is the way the interstates and the highways in general are laid out. I have friends who live in Gladstone and I have always been able to maneuver around the KC area well.

Any of you people drive around in the Denver area? One word describes it-aggravating! Though the T-Rex construction on the south end of I-25 has helped a lot, it is still in spots an exercise in futility. And then there are the commuters from Denver to Colorado Springs, where car wrecks resulting in 5 mile backups are not uncommon at all. Sorry, I know this is a tad off topic, but as many big metro areas I've been in over the years, the KC road system is one of the best ones I've been on. Just my two cents.

Denver’s roads tend to be in pretty good shape, especially after TREX has been complete. 25 is just extremely busy. 90% of the population of CO is like within 20 miles of I-25 along the front range, so EVERYBODY uses it. Metro Denver is mostly along 25 (I-70 is not near as developed) and there are few beltways or other freeways. 470 is not very wide and some of it is really far out, plus much is toll. KC has like six major highways that converge on Downtown plus beltways like 435 and even beltway bypasses like 635, 470 and 152.

KC’s freeway system could easily handle 1-3 million more people (with upgrades of course like widening). But the city has to grow in the direction of the underused highways (Clay, Platte, Wyandotte etc) rather than out to areas where there are no highways or existing highways are congested (south JoCo).

KC does have a great highway system. You can get anywhere, anytime in metro KC from end to end in under 45 minutes. But that comes with a price and that price is undervalued realestate (easier and cheaper to walk away and build new rather than redevelop) which causes excessive urban blight and sprawl.

Originally Posted by knrstz

Someone made a comment about not giving any credit to Kansas about I35 since it's a toll road. I lived in Oklahoma most of my life and I can assure you that just because a road has tolls doesn't guarantee it's any good. 412 between stillwater and tulsa used to be horrible.

Right, but the Kansas Turnpike is quite profitable. So profitable in fact that they are able to have six lane stretches of freeway between Lawrence and Topeka where traffic volumes are very low for a six lane interstate.

[Bradley101]

Yes I agree. We do have some of the best roads and hyways in the country!

[knrstz]

The weather sucks everywhere this winter. Keep in mind almost every big snow storm we got this year, Oklahoma actually got more snow. It's been cold but it could be worth if you lived further north or south.

[crazyma]

Maybe the highways are good, but IMHO the roads and streets here in Wichita are pathetic. Potholes galore and forget being able to see in the rain and dark. Street lines and curb painting are faded, not to mention the lack of good lighting.

[murcury]

So when you are on your way from nowhere Kansas to Nowhere Kansas you will have good roads to get there.

[athfo]

Originally Posted by murcury

So when you are on your way from nowhere Kansas to Nowhere Kansas you will have good roads to get there.

Good one!

Again, why do you keep coming back to these forums with new usernames? One would think you'd get bored by now...