Posted on 07/17/2010 5:59:50 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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Paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue. State money for local roads was cut in many places amid budget shortfalls.
In Michigan, at least 38 of the 83 counties have converted some asphalt roads to gravel in recent years. Last year, South Dakota turned at least 100 miles of asphalt road surfaces to gravel. Counties in Alabama and Pennsylvania have begun downgrading asphalt roads to cheaper chip-and-seal road, also known as "poor man's pavement." Some counties in Ohio are simply letting roads erode to gravel.
The moves have angered some residents because of the choking dust and windshield-cracking stones that gravel roads can kick up, not to mention the jarring "washboard" effect of driving on rutted gravel.
But higher taxes for road maintenance are equally unpopular. In June, Stutsman County residents rejected a measure that would have generated more money for roads by increasing property and sales taxes.
"I'd rather my kids drive on a gravel road than stick them with a big tax bill," said Bob Baumann, as he sipped a bottle of Coors Light at the Sportsman's Bar Café and Gas in Spiritwood.
Rebuilding an asphalt road today is particularly expensive because the price of asphalt cement, a petroleum-based material mixed with rocks to make asphalt, has more than doubled over the past 10 years. Gravel becomes a cheaper option once an asphalt road has been neglected for so long that major rehabilitation is necessary.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Obviously, the high cost of government salaries, health care, and rich lifetime pensions doesn’t leave much taxpayer money left over for things like roads.
>>I’m stuck in a long, slow spot where Rand had to drop in the obligatory “love interest.”<<
Oh geez. There’s more than one and I’m not a relationship fiction reader. It’s making it very hard to get through it.
I’m about half way, how about you?
Just what is wrong with some states? Why, here in the Peoples Republik of Maryland they are constantly digging-up fine roads, paths in parks, sidewalks and replacing them. This is thoughtless, spend peoples’ money government to the max. I walk through a park every day. They replaced a perfectly fine cement path with an asphalt one last week. God only knows that people walking on that concrete was wearing it down such that if might fail in 1000 years or so. So, I guess, just to be safe... Also, in this “sanctuary state, the crew replacing the walk (and others) is all “latino”. I’m sure they are doing work Americans won’t do. All praise nobama!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like the kind of road we had a few miles from where I grew up. There was a stretch going into the county seat that consisted of sections of concrete with some kind of gap seal between asphalt sections to allow for expansion. Driving over it was an awful experience, you had a nice smooth span and then a CLUNKCLUNK as the tires hit the joint. It was CLUNKCLUNKzzzzzzzzzzzzzzClunkCLUNKzzzzzzzzzzzzClunkCLUNKzzzzzzzzzzzzzClunkCLUNK. There was some of that on the early interstates too until they finally covered it all with asphalt. I would much rather drive on a well maintained dirt road than go back to that.
“Look at the bright side. Going to be harder for the government types to get from Point A to Point B. Isolation has it’s advantages.”
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Excellent point and since we will all be unemployed we won’t need to get anywhere in a hurry. If you are planning a vacation trip to Yellowstone and you live in Georgia just plan on being gone six months. Maybe we can all get a gypsy type covered wagon and some fancy horses and go around selling patent medicine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJEKhLZ2lPk
The best surfaces I ever knew for bike riding were dirt roads around where I grew up, many of them have never been paved yet. There were areas that were a little rough but the best stretches were like rolling on silk, especially some of the clay roads when the weather was dry and they had not been graded for some time. Riding the clay surface that the cars had compacted was perfect. Some of the sand roads were very nice too but the sand was more likely to washboard and riding washboard on a bike is misery, most of the time a person will just give up and get off and push the bike to a smoother stretch.
“The ‘equal priority for bicycles’ is crap, though, when major towns are 100 miles apart.”
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Piece of cake, Lance Armstrong would be in a different town every night. Even I could be in a different town every week.
Not in January. Not in North Dakota....
“Not in January. Not in North Dakota....”
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Isn’t part of the program the legislating of perfect weather at all times in all places? I just assumed everyone understood that.
Exactly. They need to take another look at that budget and find out who’s getting all the money.
Maybe. I heard they were supposed to take that up right after they repeal the Law of Gravity, the Law of Thermodynamics, and the Laws of Motion. Nothing too big for DuhWon and his minions.
The near future will be us just working half the year as slaves on government ‘workers’ personal plantations in lew of taxes.
Yeah, I thought the Chattanooga paper was more aptly named when they called it the "News-Free Press". These days it's a waste of good newsprint paper. I do listen to the radio pretty much all day every day and they have been reporting shootings nearly every day or every few days in Chattanooga for at least six months now, mostly on the south side. Seems to mostly be black on black crime and gang related stuff. Last count was up near 50 shootings, IIRC. Hard to believe the local "officials" still claim there is no gang activity in 'Nooga. Every time I'm over there I see gang tags spray painted all over the place, i.e., the backs of road signs, on the sides of buildings, etc. I've been seeing some MS-13 thugs occasionally out my way, too. Hard to miss the 'tats.....
‘Rats, cornered, dangerous they can be.
Side point. What state haven’t you been to? Mine is North Dakota.
This is the infrastructure Zero was talking about.
Rhode Island. I worked all around it testing cellular, but never made it over there.
Interesting.
Do you perhaps remember the title of the book?
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