Survey of the pulse of the people

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by coal cracker

the elite power brokers grip on society there, must be broken. the taxes should be reduced. they have to stop working on I-81 constantly, it's only a scam to draw money out of the state and county coffers. They've had that road ripped up now for what, 30 years ? ridiculous, obviously they are just showcasing and sucking up the tax money. the Autobahn only took a few years to build, yet I-81 is constant work for 30 years around one town, gee you do the math- it's a scam.

Some areas of our State do a better job on road construction. Some states do a better job on road construction. To fix any problem, you look at the best, then you try to copy their 'best' practices. You do not copy the worst practices of the best.

PennDOT has always had problems. Many times it appears that they are only motivated by politics. What I call 'election year paving' is the practice of putting down a thin layer of asphalt over broken, old, outdated, concrete roads in the few months before an election. My feeling is that our incumbents want voters to remember only that they 'fixed' our roads. The reason that PennDOT starts so late in the year to apply this thin layer is because they know that it will break down in a short time - they need the roads good for the election.

Highway work is dangerous work - for both the workers and, more importantly, to the motorist. Nine out of ten fatalities in construction zones are to non-pedestrians (mainly us). The quicker that work is finished and the longer the repairs last; the safer we all are.

As a trucker; I have watched NJ, OH, TN and other states do more repairs, in a short period of time, than PA. I have also watched their repairs last longer. So, how do we start? How do we encourage the current system to change?

[ecoscape]

Originally Posted by fisheye

Some areas of our State do a better job on road construction. Some states do a better job on road construction. To fix any problem, you look at the best, then you try to copy their 'best' practices. You do not copy the worst practices of the best.

PennDOT has always had problems. Many times it appears that they are only motivated by politics. What I call 'election year paving' is the practice of putting down a thin layer of asphalt over broken, old, outdated, concrete roads in the few months before an election. My feeling is that our incumbents want voters to remember only that they 'fixed' our roads. The reason that PennDOT starts so late in the year to apply this thin layer is because they know that it will break down in a short time - they need the roads good for the election.

Highway work is dangerous work - for both the workers and, more importantly, to the motorist. Nine out of ten fatalities in construction zones are to non-pedestrians (mainly us). The quicker that work is finished and the longer the repairs last; the safer we all are.

As a trucker; I have watched NJ, OH, TN and other states do more repairs, in a short period of time, than PA. I have also watched their repairs last longer. So, how do we start? How do we encourage the current system to change?

Vote them all out?

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by ecoscape

Vote them all out?

I would agree. But it doesn't work. Unfortunately, what works, is what these crooked politicians do to get votes. They are obviously not working for the people - but the voters have blinders on. The voters see the billboards, the baby huggers and the (temporarily) smooth roads!