I apologize to any Indianans that might take offense to the following.In my experience, year in and year out, over decades, Indiana has the worst highway to bridge transitions in America. Worse than MI, worse than WI, worse than IL, worse than OH worse than anywhere. It is like the highway engineers do not talk to the bridge engineers and they guess where everything is going to line up.Invariably and without exception, on IN highways north/south bound or east/west bound, the bridge transitions are kidney, truck and trailer pounding rough. The approach to the bridges are designed like giant washboard ripples that get everything oscillating up and down driving the truck/trailer suspension system into the dampers on the frame. Then your momentarily airborne before hitting the bridge and bottoming everything out again. With adrenaline flowing I check the rearview mirror to see if anything major fell off. But before I get my eyes back on the road in front of me there a similar set of undulations before being launched into the air and landing on the highway.After a few hours of this Evel Knievel RVing it is time for an Aleve and to check for equipment failures (broken axles, springs, hangers, bolts or missing accessories from the top of the trailer). Not to mention checking the cabinets and shelves inside the trailer that have come open or failed completely.Come on INDOT, figure this out.

Those are Indiana foot bridges. One foot higher than the road.

I think California's bridges and roads are just as bad. I keep hoping an rv group will file a class action law suit against the state to cause the state to pay for the damages caused by these bridge and road conditions.

We were shocked by how rough the transitions got the farther north we went up the east coast last March and April (2015). In our opinion, Maryland had the worst, though NJ, NY and MA were bad.An explanation we got from an engineer in Connecticut was that the contraction rates of the bridge decking and the non-bridge highway surface are vastly different and the greater the temperature transitions, the greater the pavement bond breaks between the two. Apparently this happens more in winter when the temps are coldest. We watched the CT highway department spend much of that summer patching and smoothing highway to bridge transitions.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:We were shocked by how rough the transitions got the farther north we went up the east coast last March and April (2015). In our opinion, Maryland had the worst, though NJ, NY and MA were bad.Wow ! I'm pleasantly shocked that PA didn't make your list..... :W We usually don't confine our poor road conditions to the bridge transitions.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:An explanation we got from an engineer in Connecticut was that the contraction rates of the bridge decking and the non-bridge highway surface are vastly different and the greater the temperature transitions, the greater the pavement bond breaks between the two. Apparently this happens more in winter when the temps are coldest.The real reason is that road construction contracts in the northeast are awarded to friends and relatives of state legislators with no regard to if they know how to build a road.

Indiana Highway RV Torture Test | Good Sam Community

broark01
Explorer
Jul 06, 2016
I have not checked post in a while and really enjoyed the responses. I do apologize that Indianans refer to themselves as Hoosiers :-). I am from Oklahoma and do not call myself a Sooner (well maybe when they win).

We have not had the opportunity to go up to the northeast so thanks for the warning that the roads are worse there.

Love the list of the ways to drive in Indiana.
soren
Explorer
Jul 07, 2016
john&bet wrote:
No offense taken. We all have opinions on everything. I for one have been driving/towing on Indiana roads since 2000. I have never experienced the things you describe in your post. And yes I have experienced rough roads in almost every state we have been in at one point or another including yours. Have a nice day.

They must hand out those rose colored glasses when you renew your driver's license in Indiana, LOL. We just headed west from PA. to Montana. Pennsylvania has greatly increased their gas taxes, is now spending a ton on rebuilding and resurfacing roads, and repairing and replacing the thousands of bridges we have that are in trouble. For the first time in my lifetime, I can honestly say that PA's roads are good and steadily improving. Ohio was a lot better than in previous years. Indiana, specifically the toll road, is sadly, a national disgrace. To actually have the stones to charge motorists a considerable sum, to travel Indiana toll road, while allowing it to basically self-destruct, with little evidence of repair, and ZERO evidence of actual improvement, is simply unbelievable. The service plazas are disgusting relics of half a century ago. That is the ones that are still standing, as some are now just piles of rubble, and garbage strewn lots. Obviously Illinois is no better, and Wisconsin and Minnesota are only slightly improved. For the first time in two decades of making this trip, you can actually close your eyes an feel when you get to South Dakota, since the motorhome is no longer porpoising up and down on the lifted, rocking slabs, and slamming into cracked up slabs and ridiculous bridge transitions. We put about 20K a year on our motorhome, traveling all over North America. I can assure you that the poor condition of Indiana roads is far from a matter of opinion.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Jul 07, 2016
I just traveled across I-70 from East of Indianapolis to St. Louis. Then St. Louis to near Branson, Missouri. Then to Kansas City, Mo, then straight across I-70 back to NE of Indianapolis.

After traveling straight through Indianapolis, (which was unbelievably horrible), I jumped on US 40 and followed it as close as I could to Illinois. I'll NEVER take I-70 again! US 40 was marvelous compared to I-70 in Indiana!

In Illinois, the roads were pretty good. Missouri had the absolute best ... everywhere! Marvelous!

Then finally back to Indiana and we jumped on US 40 again, turned North again, then hit highway 32 to come back to Anderson.

I was hoping the I-65 route to Bloomington was improved. They did all that resurfacing, and sad to see it's all torn up so quick again! There again, it only takes 24 hours after they've completely refinished a road in Indiana and it's baby butt smooth and then it's dug up again.
jnharley
Explorer
Jul 07, 2016
Love the part about the bugs in Indiana. So true and one must look out for deer after dark with their bug encrusted windshield. We do not find the roads in Indiana any worse than anywhere else. By the way, Indiana has some of the highest fuel taxes in the nation-gas is $.57.09 per gal and diesel is $.74.21 per gallon. And then there are the "bait and switch" diesel prices because at truck stops, the diesel fuel price is for tax exempt trucks. Pull up to the pump and get a big surprise and not all stations advertise their price as tax exempt. Stations selling auto diesel usually advertise the taxed price.
roadtrek_flyer_
Explorer
Jul 07, 2016
Indiana Tollroad is way better than I-94 across Michigan. We traveled from northern Illinois in May and used I-94 as the shortest way to Detroit. We had a terribly bumpy ride despite slowing down to 50 mph. When we returned to Illinois we headed south on I-75 out of Detroit to the Indiana toll road to avoid 94. There are tolls, but the ride was so much better. When we got home we discovered the rear suspension airbags were displaced and now have expensive repairs to look forward to.

Just in passing, the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village was great, and the Edsel Ford Estate was well worth seeing. There is a lot to see and do in the Detroit area.

2006 Itasca Cambria 26A

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