Are these two interests in conflict? America’s 196 million motorists want smooth pavement and dependably flowing traffic. About 20.9 million people actively bike, about five percent of whom (1 million) use their bicycles to commute to work. Yet, as scarce federal transportation dollars are divvied up, some call for a full 10 percent to be allocated to accommodate bicycles and walkers.
Staten Island “The “pothole blitz” is set to kick off soon to get an immediate jump on Island roads that that are already flattening tires and dislodging hubcaps at an alarming rate.”
As States Turn to Pavement Preservation, Road Repair Methods Improve The economics affecting road building and road repair in the current economy are pretty straightforward. Costs for everything are up, funding is down – and road disintegration continues its natural course, unabated.
Pavement Preservation a Smart Road to Better Economies A highway network is a lot like the human cardiovascular system. Good pavement and minimal construction zones keep a local economy moving, healthy and growing, but potholes and slow-moving construction projects are like plaque – they render regional commerce sclerotic.
The problem is all the old streets and highways. But thanks to the SHRP program, better fixes are here. Man first went to the moon 40 years ago, and today Space Shuttle flights are commonplace. Scientists are beginning to grow spare body parts from stem cells, and the computing power packed into our cell phones continues to evolve at a dizzying pace. So why are there so many problems with…
Introduction: If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. It’s a popular cliche that, in the current economic climate especially, holds significant bearing on how people spend their money. In an attempt to stretch dollars already spent, there is a tendency to postpone maintenance until the last possible moment. For example, a car driving down the road with squeaking brakes. So long as they aren’t grinding, the driver is content wearing…
The Pavement Condition Index is a numerical index between 0 and 100 and is used to indicate the condition of a roadway. It is widely used in transportation civil engineering. It is a statistical measure and requires manual survey of the pavement. The Pavement Condition Index (PCI), developed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, is based on a visual survey of the pavement and a numerical value between…
Debunking 3 of the most common excuses to not address a pothole problem Introduction: We’ve all seen them, we all hate them, and we all know the damage they can do. Still, potholes all too often are left unattended, leaving commuters vulnerable to serious damages, and in turn, serious repair costs. Below are three of the most common excuses to not address pothole problems. All of the scenarios below are…
Yes, it’s hard to laugh when you’re faced with a car repair bill of $400 caused by a surprise pothole. Some people even suffer physical injuries from hitting a street crater, so of course no one is making light of that. But potholes are inevitable. Laugh we must.
There are nearly 3.95 million miles of public roads in the United States , valued at more than $1.75 trillion. The NCPP will provide a valuable resource to help educate others about the benefits of pavement preservation. It can enhance pavement preservation knowledge through research and assist owner agencies to establish effective programs. These programs extend pavement life and improve motorist safety and satisfaction while saving public tax dollars. Click…
Spend 20 minutes watching TV news and you’d think the biggest transportation problem today is the auto industry. Bailouts, bankruptcies and acquisitions by foreign companies command the lion’s share of media attention – enough so that we forget about another very expensive transportation problem affecting virtually every driver in the country.
As motorists, the pothole is one of the most notorious foes we encounter. Fabricated from nothing and created by no one, the elusive pothole manifests itself with a certain subtlety wherever it pleases and wreaks havoc indiscriminately on those unfortunate enough to cross its path. Like a lion stalking in tall grass, the pothole waits, with unsurpassed patience, for an unsuspecting prey to fall into its trap.
In 2009, GEICO began a series of commercials featuring talking inanimate objects doing damage to cars. So far, they have used a talking tree limb falling on a windshield and breaking it. The tree limb makes fun of the car right before a smaller limb falls on the hood. The next one is a talking pothole with a thick southern girl accent causing a flat tire. The pothole somewhat apologizes…
Quaker State motor oil recently began a marketing campaign asking consumers “Who has the world’s worst commute?” Forgiving their willful ignorance to include Cambodian motorbikes and Parisian pedi-cabbers, Americans have apparently come forward with some horrific feats of daily strife. Twenty-seven miles in two hours another with forty in three. Ridiculous mileage – years spent motionless in traffic.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told The New York Times Magazine reporter Deborah Solomon, “America is one big pothole” in its June 14, 2009 issue dedicated to the country’s infrastructure. From an historical perspective, he might as well have said America’s military and economic strength is crumbling. Since ancient times, the existence and quality of roads have made and broken empires.
We all know how aggravating it can be to navigate over a pothole; the shocking jolt that spills your coffee on the way to work or evokes shrill screams from children in the back seat. If these were the most severe consequences, potholes would be relatively minimal road annoyances, perhaps more on par with an obnoxious bumper sticker or the kid that pulls up next to you listening to his…
Streets and highways are falling apart while local and state governments struggle with other budget crises. Yet our economy is dependent on ground transport of people and goods. The solution? Start with smarter potholes.
Chicagoans like to gripe and complain about winter weather and its close companion, potholes. But being hardy Midwesterners, we are able to take the bad with the good. We always find the upside.
1. A general overview of pavement preservation and the role of Superpave/newer technologies in accomplishing that in a cost-effective (over time) manner.
Route 66, the first cross-country (actually, Chicago to Los Angeles) motor route and which sped America’s migration west, embodies a kind of cool that spans generations. A two-lane ribbon of asphalt, concrete and an occasional pothole that stretched for more than 2400 miles, Route 66 is a road from the past that shows us everything we need to know about travel in the future.
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