http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/ Autoblog Comments for http://www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
As a Michigan commuter I can add to your comment on 80-ton trucks. It seems that our roads are made to accomodate 40-ton trucks, but allow 80-ton trucks. Good logic.

Check this out for yourself--driving on I-75 into Ohio, you don't even need the "Welcome to Ohio" sign anymore. The road surface completely changes...this is no joke. The roads are quieter and smoother and there is a distinct road variation right where the sign is. If there were any doubt who builds/maintains their roads better.

Another side effect of the "patching" technique is that when people see this being done, they usually swerve to avoid the newly patched area (I can't blame them) to also avoid getting that junk all over there cars, since we the drivers have been appointed the official "tampers" to finish the project. I have seen several near-misses on roads where patchwork is being done. Some days you can even see the workers heaving shovels full of asphalt over bridges and embankments (I guess to avoid extra work later in the day).

Nice.]]>Mar 10th 2008 11:14AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
Now, They have I-75 closed at the Ambassador Bridge for 2 years! 2 YEARS!, CLOSED! I-35 in Minneapolis, where the bridge collapsed, won't even be closed for 2 years, but Michigan thinks it's fine to close I-75 for 2 years to reconstruct the highway, and some on/off ramps.

It's Unreal!]]>Mar 10th 2008 12:37PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
But the guys that you are talking about are most likely county workers. They suck. We usually see them out and about patching and they will do a couple small holes here and there and miss a huge one that can easily mess up some tires and/or suspensions. Fortunately for us, we have supervisors that get on our butts and we do EVERYTHING. And what is hilarious is that the county guys have a guy out there who POINTS to holes.

County workers are lazy. We tamp our patches down (usually with a shovel...it works) and we clean up our mess. The county guys love the leave speed bumps. Then we go around with our trucks and roll them some more. It's pointless doing it in the winter cuz the ice just rips the stuff up. But there have been stretches of roads that we have done that if you went down them before we patched them and then after, you would notice a huge difference.

Another interesting point: I was reading an article in the Free Press a while back about how the majority of the money to fix our roads actually goes to Northern Michigan and not to the roads that actually need it (Detroit area, etc.). And if you have every driven on I-94 in Taylor over Telegraph Road, look at the money wasted on that stupid bridge they built. That money could have been spent to repair roads in and around Detroit. ]]>Mar 10th 2008 4:12PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/And dont even get me started on the construction that has been going on for 5 years to widen Route 18 and Route 1]]>Mar 10th 2008 11:15AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/Mar 10th 2008 11:28AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/Eric, have you even driven in Manhattan lately?
It's never been good but now it's horrible. The BEST part of NYC(I guess this could be true for most any city) is when they finally resurface a road, it'll often take less then a month for some other agency to open the road up and redo a water line, or put down some new gas pipe. Seriously! Can't they have some sort of cooperation! Say ConEd has to do some maintenance in a certain street, can't they do it BEFORE the city shells out thousands of dollars for nothing?

I'd also like to add PA in the list of offending states. I-80 and I-81 are pretty bad in certain areas. And at Blakeslee, PA, I've never seen a bridge take so long to go up. They said it'd take 14 monthes(?? for that small of a bridge?). Since they started beginning of Dec 06. Times up! But still it's not finished.

But I guess it's just the contractor making sure they have a job in the years to come.]]>Mar 10th 2008 12:53PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/Mar 10th 2008 11:20AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/Mar 10th 2008 11:37AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
Another option is to resurface the roads and try to make them look like the photos you see of roads in Hawaii after the lava flows over the roads. ]]>Mar 10th 2008 12:00PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
They did it entirely at night, which was nice from a commuter standpoint, and right after it was finished it was beautiful. But within 6 months the asphalt started cracking due to those heavy trucks, and within a year huge chunks were being thrown off, usually into your windshield. It was FAR worse than the admittedly horrible concrete had been beforehand.

They eventually rebuilt that surface in concrete, but I shudder to think how much money they wasted on that ill-conceived endeavor.]]>Mar 10th 2008 11:25AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
There is a road right next to my apartment that was supposed to be done 4-5 years ago...well...it's nowhere close]]>Mar 10th 2008 11:25AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/Mar 10th 2008 11:46AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
I mean, not that we'd have any reason to put money into things like bridge repairs - what could possibly go wrong?!]]>Mar 10th 2008 12:31PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
I don't get why the roads are so bad! I paid almost a grand in parking tickets 2 years ago....where'd all that money go?]]>Mar 10th 2008 11:26AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/Mar 10th 2008 12:41PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
GO BLUE!]]>Mar 10th 2008 11:29AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
Go Buckeyes!]]>Mar 10th 2008 1:08PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
U of M class of '96.]]>Mar 10th 2008 2:59PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/Mar 10th 2008 11:37AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/10/autoblog-how-to-building-a-michigan-road/
Personally I think anyone defrauding a state like some DPWs should be hung on a bridge by their toes till all themoney falls out of their pockest for dragging their asses and costing the tax payers money!]]>Mar 10th 2008 11:38AM