Just back from a trip to Cali central coast. Went down 5 to Pacheco pass highway over to San Juan Bautista where we stayed at betabel Rv park and toured from there. Loved the park and the area. Central coast hwy 1 was amazing, Hearst castle, big sur, paso Robles wine country, salinas valley, 17 mile drive at Carmel, Monterey, did a San Fran harbour tour. Here is the one thing I found strange - roads in the area were quite poor compared to Oregon or Washington. Is that because of fault movements, heavy traffic, politics? Just seemed strange in such monied area like Carmel the streets were in bad shape. Odd. The other thing was i5 bridge transitions south of Stockton were crazy bad. Pavement was fine but the slamming and launching on and off concrete bridges was unreal towing the 5th wheel. Also noticed they were redoing on ramp pavement and had left 5 inch lips of pavement? We did end up renting a car for touring which was far better than driving the hd truck around. Just curious if residents in the know could comment.

It's not just California. Many states have bad roads.Not all our money goes to repairing and maintaining roads. It's spread way too thin.......... Enjoy your travels in spite of the road conditions. :)

Compared to other Western states, yes, the Calif roads are badly maintained. This is due to many years of bad budgeting in Sacramento. I have been driving since the 1960s -- the roads did not really start to deteriorate noticeably until the late 1980s.

If you think those roads are bad you really missed the 605 in So CA. We have gravel roads in WY that are maintained better. One problem is the extremely heavy traffic and not much maintenance since the 80s. Like mentioned before bad budget. We actually paid more in registration fees, I think in the 70s, for better roads, but money was used for other things. That is why we voted in prop 13 to limit prop taxes. With an unlimited budget the money just disappeared. Many of us just got fed up and left CA when we retired.

Ca. Roads--In Ca., all roads are bad, some are just worse than others:(. i.e. On I-5 you really have to watch the right hand lanes that the truckers use. I don't blame truckers rather I blame budgetary and poor maintance programs by the Ca. Dept. of Transportation. You can blow out a tire and break trailers springs when you hit those chuck holes, ask me how I know:). When ever I run into a bad pot hole section of road, I try to stay in the fast lane as long as I am not backing up lines of traffic.

I definitely would give Oregon the nod for best roads in the west. I5 and really all the secondary highways are mostly very good. In cal between the roads, motorcycles down the lanes between cars and legal u turns and mergers who don't know how to merge you really gotta be on your toes. Oh well-all part of the fun. If I end up snow birding there I'll stay home a lot gg.

Cal roads whyyyyy? | Good Sam Community

bob213
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
We can't be wasting money on roads...we're building a bullet train! Most of the road construction you do see is a re-alignment for the train right of way. Should be ready to roll by 2029...Our roads will be back to gravel by then!
coolbreeze01
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
I just drove 5 states. Ca, Nev, and Utah were in pretty good shape. Wy and Co roads are suffering from all the rain.
Paul_Clancy
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
Wavesprite wrote:
Haha!! We live in Carmel, so it was funny reading about our horrible roads!! It is true that Carmel going through a change right now, because we had a major gas explosion in our town, so they are replacing all of our gas lines. Our streets are horribly patched right now.

I think the highways around our area are in bad need of repair, but did you notice the two new shiny overpasses on Highway 101 (one by the big Red Barn and one in Prunedale before 156 that gets you to the coast?) They have been working on them for years and just now have the project completed!! Maybe we'll get some new paving done soon!!

I did see both those and used them a few times. Very nice. Not picking on Carmel at all. Saw the same by Warner brothers (studio city?). Beautiful mansions and rutted old patched roads.
Paul_Clancy
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
djgarcia wrote:
Ca. Roads--
In Ca., all roads are bad, some are just worse than others:(. i.e. On I-5 you really have to watch the right hand lanes that the truckers use. I don't blame truckers rather I blame budgetary and poor maintance programs by the Ca. Dept. of Transportation. You can blow out a tire and break trailers springs when you hit those chuck holes, ask me how I know:). When ever I run into a bad pot hole section of road, I try to stay in the fast lane as long as I am not backing up lines of traffic.

Funny you mention that as I tried that exact thing when I was in LA with the trailer and a CHP on motorcycle waved me back to the bad lane. Wasn't blocking- six lanes a side. Oh well.
Community Alumni
Jun 02, 2015
Too many miles of highways, too many vehicles, and not enough money to keep the roads in good shape.

The state legislature is considering raising the fuel tax even though we already have one of the highest fuel taxes in the nation.
MaverickBBD
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
To answer you question, yes.
Wavesprite
Explorer II
Jun 02, 2015
Haha!! We live in Carmel, so it was funny reading about our horrible roads!! It is true that Carmel going through a change right now, because we had a major gas explosion in our town, so they are replacing all of our gas lines. Our streets are horribly patched right now.

I think the highways around our area are in bad need of repair, but did you notice the two new shiny overpasses on Highway 101 (one by the big Red Barn and one in Prunedale before 156 that gets you to the coast?) They have been working on them for years and just now have the project completed!! Maybe we'll get some new paving done soon!!
the_bear_II
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
profdant139 wrote:
Compared to other Western states, yes, the Calif roads are badly maintained. This is due to many years of bad budgeting in Sacramento. I have been driving since the 1960s -- the roads did not really start to deteriorate noticeably until the late 1980s.

X 2 along with earthquake damage in some areas.
Paul_Clancy
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
I definitely would give Oregon the nod for best roads in the west. I5 and really all the secondary highways are mostly very good. In cal between the roads, motorcycles down the lanes between cars and legal u turns and mergers who don't know how to merge you really gotta be on your toes. Oh well-all part of the fun. If I end up snow birding there I'll stay home a lot gg.
MarkTwain
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
Ca. Roads--
In Ca., all roads are bad, some are just worse than others:(. i.e. On I-5 you really have to watch the right hand lanes that the truckers use. I don't blame truckers rather I blame budgetary and poor maintance programs by the Ca. Dept. of Transportation. You can blow out a tire and break trailers springs when you hit those chuck holes, ask me how I know:). When ever I run into a bad pot hole section of road, I try to stay in the fast lane as long as I am not backing up lines of traffic.