Anyone find it hard to drive on the streets of new orleans? (neighborhood, buy)

[L'Artiste]

does anyone find it hard?(I don't mean the west bank or east bank but places like downtown,gretna,algiers,uptown..anywhere??)

like roads are really rugged with pot holes, but with the combination of double parking on small streets and one way stop(instead of 4) signs it seems really hard to get around with the fear that i will tear something, swipe something or be hit by someone

[Neworleansisprettygood]

Combination of bad soils and underfunding maintenance will do that.

[waitingtundra]

Bad roads, why I just buy trucks for da last 20 years, never worry much bout getting a alignment, course 1 pothole knocks everything out to the left, but the next knocks it out to the right, it all evens out, put 5 to 10 pounds of air in tires every few weeks, lol. U do notice bout every car got a few dents on it, course with a truck just adds character, lol.

[rburnett]

1. The soil conditions here are unique. The entire city was built on alluvial sediment from the Mississippi river which is constantly settling and sinking. On top of that, the settlement isn't uniform and some areas are sinking faster than others. This affects everything, not just the street surface. Water, sewage, electrical and drainage are all affected. So, for example, if one part of street settles faster than the other, you'll see a crack in the roadway, but what you don't see is the water line that broke and the sewage and drainage pipes (many which are a century old) that are now not in alignment allowing water to leak out and erode the soil around it further exacerbating the problem.

2. You have to remember, much of the infrastructure here was developed 100 years ago or more. Most other US cities have only a very small core area that may be that old. The only cities that have a large swath of century old infrastructure like New Orleans are bigger cities like Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. All of which have a much much larger and wealthier population and can easily afford to maintain their infrastructure (It also helps that their soil isn't sinking). More than a quarter of our population is below the poverty line.

Simply repaving a street is only a temporary fix, but sadly that's usually all we can afford. 5-10 years is the average lifespan of this type of repair. A full repair of the entire road bead, curbs and utilities underneath is much more costly.

It seems the city has resigned itself to concentrating on the major streets. There is simply not enough money to repair the amount of old neighborhood streets that we have. Once in a blue moon a neighborhood street will get repaved, but hardly ever will one be completely redone with new curbs and drainage.

[Jimbo_1]

Just observe the speed limit/go slower than the speed limit and be observant of what is around you. It is always a good idea to avoid the worst streets as well. Most major streets are decently smooth/don't have many potholes and you should be going slow on the smaller residential streets, anyway.

P.S. rburnett. Those cities you used as examples all have pretty high poverty rates as well, especially Philadelphia which is basically the same as New Orleans.

[rburnett]

Originally Posted by Jimbo_1

P.S. rburnett. Those cities you used as examples all have pretty high poverty rates as well, especially Philadelphia which is basically the same as New Orleans.

True, but Philly's annual budget is close to 4 billion while New Orleans' is only 0.5 billion.

[adventuregurl]

The OP's status "I break everything I touch", makes me wonder if it flows over to his or her driving .

[annie_himself]

Not to mention the no left turns.

[Jimbo_1]

Originally Posted by rburnett

True, but Philly's annual budget is close to 4 billion while New Orleans' is only 0.5 billion.

Part of that makes sense when you factor that Philly's population is 4+ times bigger but I wonder where all the rest comes from. I wonder if part of it is the difference in costs of living and wages between the two cities. With roads upkeep it also helps that Philly's land area is not that much bigger than the developed areas of New Orleans but it also has all that extra population.

[annie_himself]

Corporate presence in Center City certainly has to have a significant effect.