The next time I'm in Phoenix (Flagstaff, Payson: sales, credit, home)

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Our freeways are generally in good shape, but they are far from pristine. I-10 eastbound in the avenues is not a smooth ride at all. There are dozens of other spots around the Valley where the rubberized asphalt has completely worn.

Well, that's ADOT for you! There wasn't any need to lay rubberized asphalt in the first place because it's costly, solves nothing, and now it's cracking & needing repair/replacement. Concrete works just fine.

Originally Posted by i'm not a cookie

haha I've never heard of anyone from Phoenix use the world highway over freeway. That's a first!

I agree! Let's please get it straight that they're called freeways, not highways because there is a big difference. These are freeways:





These are highways:

[kent_moore]

I thought Phoenix represents the infrastructure in the US until I drive in California, Nevada and Colorado and found the road condition are way too different.

[sargeant79]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

I have a house in the Midwest, and the roads almost seem to be a parody of bad roads. Some of the repairs are as bad as the problem that they "repaired".

Very true. There are some allegedly paved roads in rural midwestern areas that are worse than some of the tamer trails that people use to go off-roading on here.

[Mister-A]

Originally Posted by sargeant79

Very true. There are some allegedly paved roads in rural midwestern areas that are worse than some of the tamer trails that people use to go off-roading on here.

It's widely rumored that some cities in upstate New York are now planning their street repair budgets by weighing the cost of repair against the cost of paying damage claims for broken axles. I lost a shoe in a pothole last winter crossing the street and was actually a little surprised that I was able to recover it.

[i'm not a cookie]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Well, that's ADOT for you! There wasn't any need to lay rubberized asphalt in the first place because it's costly, solves nothing, and now it's cracking & needing repair/replacement. Concrete works just fine.



I agree! Let's please get it straight that they're called freeways, not highways because there is a big difference. These are freeways:





These are highways:

Yup totally agree! In AZ we say freeway.

[Colt AZ]

Arizona = FREEWAYS.

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Correction: our highways are pristine. There are tons of side streets that are starting to crumble and will rattle the teeth out of your head.

agree.

[DougStark]

My brother from Denver visited me last year. He loves his city, but admitted our freeways are better than Denver's.

However, I think there will come a day when our freeways are almost as clogged as Los Angeles' freeways. And have you noticed how wide they are there? They're huge!, and yet they're still a parking lot!

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Mister-A

It's widely rumored that some cities in upstate New York are now planning their street repair budgets by weighing the cost of repair against the cost of paying damage claims for broken axles. I lost a shoe in a pothole last winter crossing the street and was actually a little surprised that I was able to recover it.

Tucson actually faces this exact problem, suits for damaged cars vs. fixing the roads themselves. I had a few major suspension repairs to make thanks to those awful roads.

I think the reason Tucson roads are in such a different condition than our freeways is the simple fact that they don't have freeways to take the brunt of road damage. They have the I10 which skirts 3/4 of the city, the I19 which is to the south of 3/4 of the city, and the 210 which barely qualifies as a freeway in the first place leaving most commuters to commute via surface streets. Freeways are funded via the State unlike surface streets which is cost savings to Valley cities. Our surface streets are pretty bad in some areas too but most of us don't notice because our freeways are more convenient. Tucson doesn't have that luxury, they can't fix them at night due to light pollution ordinances, there is an ordinance that street repair contracts have to go to the lowest bidder (which means filling potholes with gravel), and even when taxes are raised to fix the roads Pima County diverts it to pet projects.

That said, last time I was down there, they had fixed a good portion of their worst roads like Wetmore and Grant so there is some progress but it seems to take them too long. I remember a road repaving project in Chandler along Alma School that took 2 days and covered extensive areas. Grant? That took seemingly forever.

[Hschlick84]

It would be nice if CDOT in Colorado used the quiet asphalt on I-25 and I-70, the pavement around here once it's worn down, forms potholes everywhere and it gets noisy. Even the concrete on I-25 is noisy. Superstition freeway east of Phoenix on the other hand, its almost perfectly flat and super quiet. Makes driving a breeze.

This drive sucks between 3pm to 7pm I-25 north to the mousetrap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNqT6_cCBus