Why the fuck is the DOT repaving this section of Wade Ave?!?!? There is nothing wrong with the road, its perfectly fine.

Whereas the section of Wade Ave between Ridge Road and Capital Blvd is falling apart and looks like it belongs in a Third World Country.

So glad they're wasting our tax money fixing things that aren't broken, but are screaming bloody murder that they're not making enough in tax revenue to take care of everything.

Fucking idiots

/bitch

6/12/2009 10:56:56 AM

Not sure, but wade avenue is the reason theres so much traffic on the beltline and I-40 exit 289 during rush hour.

[Edited on June 12, 2009 at 11:02 AM. Reason : .]

6/12/2009 11:02:25 AM

Quote :

"looks like it belongs in a Third World Country."

90% of the roads here look like that. The sad thing is even the ones they've just repaved still look like that. I guess no one has told the jokers at the DOT that repaving an inch of fresh asphalt on a already fucked up road isn't going to change things.

6/12/2009 11:11:43 AM

^^I'm not saying its responsible for rush hour traffic, since they're only doing the work at night. And I'd say the reason there's traffic at exit 289 is b/c I-40 goes down to 2 lanes. How would it be Wade Ave's fault?

No shit man. Compared to other places I've lived I've always considered the quality of most road construction down here to be bush league.

6/12/2009 11:15:09 AM

I agree with this thread. The Wade Avenue fix is creating traffic problems late at night for me because I live near there.

There was nothing wrong with westbound Wade Avenue and there were only about 4 or 5 major potholes on Wade Ave. going to the east in that area, so I don't know what the fuck they're doing over there on the westbound side. Many, many roads in this area are in far greater need of attention than that section of Wade Ave.

6/12/2009 11:35:41 AM

They are doing a crappy job too, it undulates and isn't very smooth.

6/12/2009 12:00:24 PM

Quote :

"So glad they're wasting our tax money fixing things that aren't broken, but are screaming bloody murder that they're not making enough in tax revenue to take care of everything."

Oh, I see where the misunderstanding is... the goal is to raise the tax rates, not to fix the roads.

6/12/2009 12:02:07 PM

I'm not defending them, but I've heard DOT engineers basically say it comes down to cost. It cost them something like $x/square foot to repave a heavy use road that is in fair condition, compared to $5x/square foot to shave, fill pot holes and cracks, and then repave a medium to heavy use road. It makes sense to me, but yeah it doesn't negate the argument that a road thats all sorts of fucked up needs to be fixed, either.

6/12/2009 5:25:33 PM

You guys have no idea how good the roads are in Raleigh.

The northwest has the worst fucking roads of anywhere in the US. I've driven through 48 states to back that up.

The INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS here are rutted out, horrible surfacing because of fucking trucks that forget to take off their snow chains. Then add in the ripples and going down the highway is like riding over logs at 60mph. And those are the best roads here. Potholes are horrific, there are massive bumps and divots, and roadwork takes forever.

They basically only have 3 months a year to get all the road work done, because the wet season makes it impossible to do anything.

So be thankful.

6/13/2009 3:38:35 AM

Quote :

"I'm not defending them, but I've heard DOT engineers basically say it comes down to cost. It cost them something like $x/square foot to repave a heavy use road that is in fair condition, compared to $5x/square foot to shave, fill pot holes and cracks, and then repave a medium to heavy use road. It makes sense to me, but yeah it doesn't negate the argument that a road thats all sorts of fucked up needs to be fixed, either."

It might be in their best interests then to not let them get so shitty in the first place so it costs so much to fix the problem. Basic maintenance would help, but that'd just be logical and this is the NC DOT we're talking about.

6/13/2009 4:22:26 AM

^^^&^^We're not bitching about how bad roads are on the whole (which is not bad). I'm (we're) bitching about one road that's falling apart at one end and is fine at the other; and yet, they're repaving the GOOD section. And this, when the State is bitching about how the DOT is out of money and needs a new way to tax us.

Talk about wasting my fucking money

6/14/2009 2:24:01 AM

^^ Mmm, and you feel yourself qualified to speculate that the NC DOT doesn't do "basic maintenance" to keep roads in serviceable shape overall?

That's what this top coat of asphalt is, it's a new surface which they hope will last many years (keeping the road serviceable) and which will keep the road surface smooth for driving for at least a few years (ride quality isn't as important as making sure the road isn't a total hazard to heavy trucks and light vehicles).

They're also more likely to keep high-speed roads in better shape with more frequent top coats of asphalt as, due to the higher speed limit, it's more important for the road to be smoother and in better shape. That section of Wade is a major residential artery with a speed limit varying from 35-45, whereas west of ridge road you're going to see traffic going at about 60-75mph (ignoring the retardedly low speed limit of 55 mph). The NC DOT will also repave roads on a regular schedule whether the road is in bad shape or not, as it's part of the preventative maintenance which is required to extend the lifecycle of the road (some roads are just more in need of repaving at the time they are scheduled to be repaved).

The other thing you should consider is that the NC DOT might be covering more of the cost of that section of Wade because it's a connector between I-40 and I-440. East of Ridge Rd, Raleigh will likely be footing most of the bill for resurfacing and repaving, and they're probably going to limit the amount of asphalt top coats they do this year and keep their road crews focused more on patching potholes. With the economic downturn putting a squeeze on city budgets and with the bad problems with ice this winter there's more cracking and potholes on the roads than usual. They're probably putting off a number of resurfacing projects and are mostly putting their road crews out on the less-expensive but still very important duty of filling in potholes and cracks with asphalt.

Quote :

"I guess no one has told the jokers at the DOT that repaving an inch of fresh asphalt on a already fucked up road isn't going to change things."

Concrete highways are expensive, and the only viable repair for a cracking concrete road is a top coat of asphalt. Many of the highways around here were originally built as concrete a number of years ago, and they've kept degrading concrete highways in-service by paving them with asphalt and removing problem areas, repairing any roadway foundation problems, and repaving those spots with asphalt roadway.

To properly repair one of these highways would require cutting the highway capacity by more than half and repairing each side of the highway in two different construction phases (this would take a long time and is unacceptable to the general public), or to reconstruct the highway as part of a widening project (see the US1/64 segment between walnut st and tryon rd), or to construct a temporary highway lane group (2 lanes, most likely) off to the side of the existing highway and to reconstruct the existing two lane groups of the highway in two different phases (with the temporary lane group becoming a service road or being deconstructed after the original highway is repaired), or to reroute traffic on other roads and expressways and to just rip up and replace the whole roadway. To do such a thing is very very expensive, very disruptive to traffic, and takes a very long time. That's why it isn't done all that often, and it's why they stick to patchwork repairs and resurfacing to keep the roads in-service.

If all roads in our entire state were under the control (and budget) of the NC DOT then you wouldn't see so much variation in the condition of the roads. As is, however, most of the roads and parkways you drive on are under the control of the city, and the NC DOT doesn't have control over what condition those other roads are in. It's up to those cities to keep those roads in decent shape, and most cities aren't going to have the money to do much besides periodical resurfacing and pothole control.

Budgets for everything are down statewide, and road maintenance is no exception. The road maintenance budgets are generally low everywhere to begin with, and the state's highway trust fund gets raped by the state as "temporary budget relief" all to frequently so that the DOT is underfunded to begin with. With politicians like Meeker dictating city priorities and fucking up the budget it should not be a surprise that the roads are in shitty shape in some parts of town. Rather, it should be a surprise that they haven't done more to fuck up your lives like shutting down all public libraries or arbitrarily banning something else (like dishwashers, or perhaps powerwashing). Bitch to the city council or wait for better times to leave the state and local governments awash in tax revenue and for road maintenance budgets to return to normal.

6/14/2009 4:24:17 AM

Quote :

"Whereas the section of Wade Ave between Ridge Road and Capital Blvd is falling apart and looks like it belongs in a Third World Country."

have you even been to a third world country?

6/14/2009 4:30:46 AM

every road within 5 miles of campus is in bad shape. it gets better if you leave.

6/14/2009 8:15:36 AM

Quote :

"The northwest has the worst fucking roads of anywhere in the US. I've driven through 48 states to back that up. "

I had no idea how true that was until I moved to Portland OR. The roads here are beyond terrible. North Carolina roads are beautiful works of art by comparison.

6/14/2009 9:00:31 PM

^^avent ferry road has become horrible

6/14/2009 9:01:46 PM