Wrong lane, buttbrain

[protege]

Not to sound insulting, but WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING?! Whatever it is, I hope it's not getting in the water.

I'd like to know that too! Whatever it is, they seem to have a shitload of it!

Seriously though, many of the road problems, is simply because the state "cheaped out" when they were originally built. The surface really should be thicker, to withstand the freeze/thaw cycle during the winter. That's part of it, but when most of our highways were built...they were built as "patchwork," which may, or may not have been built to the same standards. Also consider that PennDOT typically farms out work to private contractors...some of which don't have the best reputations. Last but not least, inside the Pittsburgh city limits, are roughly 300 bridges...many of which were originally built in the 1900s. Combine their age, along with all the salt/cinders thrown on the decks, and they'll eventually wear out.

[Jetfire]

Whatever they're smoking, it's catching. The Princess Margaret Bridge in my city is still open to traffic (With a reduced tonage limit; trucks can still use it) despite concrete falling off of it. They just adjusted the netting underneath the deck to catch the concrete if more fell off.

(Granted that was a few months ago. It's FINALLY getting some reconstruction work done on it, including nightly closures this week)

[RootedPhoenix]

Doesn't stop them from trying--they'll lay asphalt right over ice if necessary here in Pennsylvania. Then they can't understand why the road starts buckling and cracking

Like the car that got swallowed up out on Wendover Avenue past the local hospital going toward the middle of town a winter or two ago. They are just now replacing that part of the road (should be completed by tomorrow morning as well as the replacing of water lines along that stretch.)

But then there's this bridge, which got closed last year. Closed, after someone called 911, that the deck dropped several inches 7 months later, it was finally deemed safe and fully reopened.

Not to sound insulting, but WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING?! Whatever it is, I hope it's not getting in the water.

Good grief. That broke my brain.

[protege]

They must have went through the same training center as the ones here in NC 'cause they can't figure out how we end up with holes so big in some of the roads that they'll swallow a car.

But then there's this bridge, which got closed last year. Closed, after someone called 911, that the deck dropped several inches 7 months later, it was finally deemed safe and fully reopened.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Doesn't stop them from trying--they'll lay asphalt right over ice if necessary here in Pennsylvania. Then they can't understand why the road starts buckling and cracking

They must have went through the same training center as the ones here in NC 'cause they can't figure out how we end up with holes so big in some of the roads that they'll swallow a car.

Like the car that got swallowed up out on Wendover Avenue past the local hospital going toward the middle of town a winter or two ago. They are just now replacing that part of the road (should be completed by tomorrow morning as well as the replacing of water lines along that stretch.)

[protege]

You forgot one important detail - since roadwork can't be done in Northern states in winter due to the white stuff, construction companies will have equipment sitting idle while they're still making payments on it.

Doesn't stop them from trying--they'll lay asphalt right over ice if necessary here in Pennsylvania. Then they can't understand why the road starts buckling and cracking

[wolfie]

Would our "winter" not be the best time for road work? Why do they insist on going into overdrive to get these things done and hang out around the ginormous machines that dispense MOLTEN ASPHALT when it's ninety-ohdeargodi'mgonnamelt outside?

You forgot one important detail - since roadwork can't be done in Northern states in winter due to the white stuff, construction companies will have equipment sitting idle while they're still making payments on it. Southern states should be able to get a discount by getting their road work done during the "off-season".

[RootedPhoenix]

Because that would be smart, and that's not allowed.

[EricKei]

Down deep in the south, there is one thing I do have to wonder about the mega-construction projects...During the summer -- which usually last roughly 8-9 months -- we're lucky if the LOWS are below the upper 80's (f) at times (we're doing OK this year)...During winter, we have none of that white powdery stuff (some think it's a legend), rain nearly ceases, the humidity drops down below 80, and it's rare that the lows even flirt with freezing...Would our "winter" not be the best time for road work? Why do they insist on going into overdrive to get these things done and hang out around the ginormous machines that dispense MOLTEN ASPHALT when it's ninety-ohdeargodi'mgonnamelt outside?

[blas]

I know for a fact it's the workers. There are too many cops around here for anyone to be able to get away with that. No one can even steal one of those gadinks (flashing lights on the barrels) without a cop catching them. Too funny. Because traffic violations in construction zones are worth double $ and points off your license, cops stalk construction zones.

I mean, if my Neon is having a hard time getting through without riding the shoulder, those barrels need to be moved. To the side of the road where the work is actually being done. I can only imagine how it goes for larger cars and even trucks or semis.

[Andara Bledin]

As it is, right now, every night I have to take a different route to work because the main drag is under construction, and once the workers go home for the day, it seems like they move the barrels right into the middle of the road.

Around here it's not the workers, but douchebrains who think it's funny to move the cones/barrels/horses so that people can't get by, or so that people actually drive into the construction area.

^-.-^

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

People do that here all the time. Irv can vouch for me, that in Wisconsin, from the moment the snow goes away (actually, sometimes when Frosty still hasn't finished his diahrrea yet!) up until the moment it starts getting cold and snowing again, there's road construction. And it's never the roads that really need it (aka, the roads with potholes that can swallow entire small cars).

But of course. This is probably about the third year or so that the same road I take to work has had some kind of work done on it.

I guess it's just inevitable when there's so much salt being put down on the roads and getting ground into the surface during the winter.

There's also always at least one major freeway project going on. This year the one I keep hearing about is I-94 from the south side of Milwaukee to the Illinois state line, which I drive on only about once a year.

[blas]

People do that here all the time. Irv can vouch for me, that in Wisconsin, from the moment the snow goes away (actually, sometimes when Frosty still hasn't finished his diahrrea yet!) up until the moment it starts getting cold and snowing again, there's road construction. And it's never the roads that really need it (aka, the roads with potholes that can swallow entire small cars).

As it is, right now, every night I have to take a different route to work because the main drag is under construction, and once the workers go home for the day, it seems like they move the barrels right into the middle of the road. Once or twice of me having to hug the gravel shoulder and nearly send my poor little car into the ditch to avoid hitting the barrels, and I decided it'd be better to just leave 10 minutes earlier every night, and just stay on the freeway a few more miles, take a different exit, and take a few more miles out of the way to get to work. That road is under construction as well, but the barrels are out of the way at night, at least.

And in the morning, since I always stop at my parents' house, I have to go a few miles out into the country and then a hop and a skip and a jump back onto the freeway where there is no construction so I can avoid the same stuff I avoid at night.

This construction is just so dumb....they are taking huge chunks of concrete out, little by little....barrels in the middle of the road......it's such a pain!

Gotta say, I'm already used to the smell of cow shit every morning.

[protege]

I had one idiot try to drive in one of the exits to our parking lot. It is a narrow exit designed for right turns only. The idiot eventually decided to try to drive in the exit with me still in the way. A Civic Hatchback vs my SUV. The moron eventually left after about 45 seconds of laying on the horn.

Had someone do that near my grandmother's farm. Usually, when I've been out, I like to take the back roads. So as usual, we were heading up a hill...when some redneck in a minivan decided she didn't want to wait. I'm trying to get Grandma's Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (not exactly a big car...but huge compared to the Toyota) out of the way so she can pass. Rather than wait, the dumb bitch forced her way by...and ended up getting the 'van stuck in a ditch Not just any ditch, but a deep one, filled with mud, broken timbers, rocks, etc. Meaning...not only did she get her 'van stuck, but probably destroyed her exhaust system too Had she not flipped me off, I would have been nice and pulled her out. Instead, I left her to her own devices

[mattm04]

In a situation like that, I'd stop but NOT back up - he caused the problem, he can fix it. On the other hand, I might try backing up but "forget" which vehicle I'm driving (#1 has reverse at the forward position of the left gate, which is 1st gear on #2, while #2 has reverse at the rear position of the right gate, which is 4th gear on #1).

Of course, with vehicle #1 I definitely wouldn't back up - not only is it far more intimidating that asshat's Cobalt, but it's a bitch to back up, and I wouldn't be able to see the innocent person behind me (normal situation when you've got a 53 foot dry van).

I had one idiot try to drive in one of the exits to our parking lot. It is a narrow exit designed for right turns only. The idiot eventually decided to try to drive in the exit with me still in the way. A Civic Hatchback vs my SUV. The moron eventually left after about 45 seconds of laying on the horn.