The horrible roads are killing the fun.

wa8yxm wrote:
For many (Too many) years we have been neglecting the roads.. Then some electable idiot (Several in fact) came up with the idea of basically band aid.. Let's lay down a couple inches of asphalt instead of doing it right (Replacing the concrete) Makes a really nice smooth road for a very short period of time (Usually just long enough for the governor to say "See how I smoothed the roads. And look at all the money I saved over replacing the concrete"

Kind of like slapping a band aid on a wound when you really need 20 stiches.. (Won't hold long).

Well. finally we are starting to do it right.. But.. alas.. it's going to take a long time.

And when people ask questions like "I"m going to Chicago tomorrow (From Detroit) is there any construction on I-94? Folks that's around 200 miles of freeway

YES THERE IS CONSTRUCTION... There will always be construction for by the time they get it done. its time to do it again.

I can agree with most of this. But you fail to mention some important parts. Most times when they do repair the full depth, or even close to that, there is such a rush to get the lane open they use faster setting mix, so does not last.
And even worse, IMHO, is the fact that if a road/road repair does not last, nobody with the power to change how it was done looses their job. They might pass some grief to the contractor, but all the time the contractor is working a state man is right there making sure the work matches the plan.
You kind of disparaged asphalt overlay. If the subgrade is good, asphalt can last for quite a while. And a overlay will keep water out of, and smooth the expansion joints in concrete. If water is allowed to get to dirt under the road that dirt will move, letting concrete shift so the slabs on each side are not same level. That causes bounce, which breaks slabs. State comes in, cuts out 1 bump, puts in 2.
There is 1 street in KC that was paved when Truman was in charge of roads in the county. 1 of Truman's major supporters was boss of concrete suppliers in the area. Lots of scandal, but in the late 90s, we where doing some sewer work in that road. Looking at that pavement, you could see a lot of wear, but the only parts that could be called 'rough' was where it had been cut/patched for utilities. Where the surface was worn you could see rock in the mix that would not pass a 2 inch screen. It would be back-breaking work to smooth that surface with equipment of the time, but the road did last!