Miserable, miserable, miserable. Mile after mile of trucks beating up the road.Even the freshly paved sections are lumpy. They didn't bother to do anything with the bridges (repaving adds too much weight) or the underpasses (repaving adds too much height) so every half mile or so it's a bone jarring rig shaking ride. At one point I switched to the left lane because it was marginally better. I don't know what these sates are doing with their federal highway funds, but it's not being spent on this roadway. Dwight Eisenhower must be rolling over in his grave.

I live n Indiana. Some of the worst roads I've ever experienced. Disgraceful!! Spent 3 weeks in the Traverse City Michigan area this summer. Politicians were campaigning on "fix the **** roads". Actually worse in Michigan. The US infrastructure is falling apart.

Just where are OUR tax dollars going?Certainly not fixing our country.

Pennsylvania has the highest gas tax in the USA, but you wouldn't know it by driving on our roads.I guess the free cell phones are getting more expensive?

I've tried to sound the alarm and warning about Indiana Interstates for years now! Avoid interstates. Take the US Highways. East-West? US-40, US-50, US-36, US-24, US-27, US-30. North-South take US-31, US-52, US-231, US-421.Interstate 70 from Indianapolis to Ohio has always been a disaster zone. I-75 going to Cincinnati? About 3 years ago they had that stretch of interstate baby-but smooth. I was fortunate to drive it, but only once. I thought, AH! Finally roads are getting fixed. Two weeks later drove the same road again towing the trailer, and thought I'd have a wreck. They'd dug everything up again, making trenches across every few miles. Truck parts scattered everywhere. One section, I slowed down to 25 mph and rode the shoulder with the trailer it was so bad.I-70 from Indy to Illinois was just done. Drove it this last August, but already there are spots they are digging up. It just doesn't make sense.Take US Highways! Speed limits are 60 mph, they are 4 lane, and provide a much smoother ride!Indiana Interstates just suck! It's been this way for a long, long time!The county road I live on is smoother than the interstates! Really! And I really think the remaining gravel roads in Park County are smoother than the interstates too!

jplante4 wrote:Miserable, miserable, miserable. Mile after mile of trucks beating up the road.Even the freshly paved sections are lumpy. They didn't bother to do anything with the bridges (repaving adds too much weight) or the underpasses (repaving adds too much height) so every half mile or so it's a bone jarring rig shaking ride. At one point I switched to the left lane because it was marginally better. I don't know what these sates are doing with their federal highway funds, but it's not being spent on this roadway. Dwight Eisenhower must be rolling over in his grave.When we travel east to west or west to east we always avoid I-70. I'd rather run the 2 lane scenic route and rubberneck than deal with poor road and numerous trucks (and idiot car drivers) any day.Actually, unless we have a specific destination and time frame, we always run the 2 lanes. Only way to really enjoy America in my opinion.

I-70 Indiana and Western Ohio | Good Sam Community

SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Oct 12, 2018
RGar974417 wrote:
jplante4 wrote:
I pay fuel taxes like everyone else. The road use tax is just an acknowledgement that trucks use more of the road services than other types of vehicles. It's not my fault that the states raid the fuel taxes for things other than roads. I would gladly pay more fuel tax if I was sure the money would go to roads.
Exactly. They raised our gas tax and registration fees a few years ago. Then we found out over $900 is used to fund the state police.

Who in turn write citations that you pay....again. Viscious circle isn't it?
RGar974417
Explorer
Oct 12, 2018
jplante4 wrote:
I pay fuel taxes like everyone else. The road use tax is just an acknowledgement that trucks use more of the road services than other types of vehicles. It's not my fault that the states raid the fuel taxes for things other than roads. I would gladly pay more fuel tax if I was sure the money would go to roads.
Exactly. They raised our gas tax and registration fees a few years ago. Then we found out over $900 is used to fund the state police.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Oct 12, 2018
jplante4 wrote:
SidecarFlip wrote:
jplante4 wrote:
We did US40 mostly from Dayton to Washington PA today and it was fine except for the twisty, hilly section in WV.

Better scenery too.

Yup. The DW likes to look into houses as we roll by.

One thing I really like about 2 lane roads besides the better roadway is, you get a real slice of America. I do that (2 lanes) all the time, even visiting relatives that live close. Sure, I have an easy pass in each vehicle but I still prefer the 2 lane. You can have your choice of eateries, gas stations and things to see and do and stop at that the Interstate never even comes close to.

If you don't mind some ups and down's PA offers some of the nicest 2 lanes anywhere and so does upstate New York.
jplante4
Explorer II
Oct 12, 2018
cross21114 wrote:
How specifically could I avoid I-70 west from Columbus to Indianapolis? We then take I-74 but I think that road is in pretty good shape.

Thanks for your help.

US 40 pretty much parallels I-70 through Ohio and Indiana. The speed limit is 55 - 60 and the road conditions vary. There are towns to go through where the speed drops to 35-45 and there are stop lights. The interesting thing I discovered is that when the road gets rough, you can slow down. This is not the best policy on interstates.

As I said, we ran US routes about 75% of the time on this trip and for the most part the roads were in better shape than the interstates we ran.
cross21114
Explorer
Oct 12, 2018
Reading this thread with great interest. We always use I-70 to South Dakota to avoid tolls with a trailer. Going to take the Rv this year with the toad. Leaving in about 10 days.

I don't think the roads were too bad west to Columbus. How specifically could I avoid I-70 west from Columbus to Indianapolis? We then take I-74 but I think that road is in pretty good shape.

Thanks for your help.
jplante4
Explorer II
Oct 12, 2018
DutchmenSport wrote:
I think you just found a new part of the USA you'll absolutely love!

This trip has been all about avoiding interstates. The original idea was to pick up US 2 in the UP and take it all the way to Puget Sound. We got stopped by the fires in Glacier, but continued on US 85, US 83, US 283 and US 50. Most of these roads were in better shape than the interstates we drove by necessity.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Oct 11, 2018
jplante4 wrote:
SidecarFlip wrote:
jplante4 wrote:
We did US40 mostly from Dayton to Washington PA today and it was fine except for the twisty, hilly section in WV.

Better scenery too.

Yup. The DW likes to look into houses as we roll by.

I think you just found a new part of the USA you'll absolutely love!
jplante4
Explorer II
Oct 11, 2018
SidecarFlip wrote:
jplante4 wrote:
We did US40 mostly from Dayton to Washington PA today and it was fine except for the twisty, hilly section in WV.

Better scenery too.

Yup. The DW likes to look into houses as we roll by.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Oct 11, 2018
jplante4 wrote:
We did US40 mostly from Dayton to Washington PA today and it was fine except for the twisty, hilly section in WV.

Better scenery too.
jplante4
Explorer II
Oct 11, 2018
We did US40 mostly from Dayton to Washington PA today and it was fine except for the twisty, hilly section in WV.

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