hey everyone: Thanks for paying $40 mil for 2 miles of road

[chucky2]

And no one has asserted that, except you. So, not sure why you're doing that....?

Sauk Trail that runs through some local towns by me is a pothole and bump fest. Guess what? It's the exact same size it was 30 years ago. Ditto for Rt. 30. Rt. 45. How is it possible that all these roads, the same size they've been...for a long while now...need so much more radical maintenance?

How is it possible they take months to run the asphalt resurfacing machine down a 2 mile stretch of road that other states run down in the same timeframe, but do 10 miles instead, and it's a bump and crater fest a year or two later? You're telling me that it costs $541M more to, you know, efficiently run the machine like other states do, and, you know, put some quality into the job like other states manage to do?

Tell me: Just how much extra, over what we already pay, is needed so we can have nice roads just like all the other states, road projects that don't backup traffic for months/years (unlike the other states), and last for years without more $$$$$$$$ and months/years long efforts like the other states somehow can pull off?

Is that another $541M? Just give us a ballpark so we know how much the Dem's...oops, I mean, the honest and capable politicians that run IL, need for their Union vot....er, I mean, need for the honest, dedicated, and hardworking works we have working on all our roads (well, the ones that aren't on strike on their road project during The Great Recession that is)...

You're a trip dude...seriously....I'm with Nick: Never, ever, would I have ever thought I'd have met someone from IL, Chicago area no less, that would actually try and make a case that IL was using the road funds it had effectively (for the general public that uses the roads that is) on roads.

In all my travels in this state, you very well could be a first.

 

[K1052]

Ok, for the sake of argument some state routes haven't undergone widening in recent years for a number of reasons. Are they carrying more or less traffic than 20-30 years ago. Are they carrying more or less truck tonnage from 20-30 years ago? Have their road beds been torn up and replaced or just new asphalt cover put down because of the outlay required?

Certainly some money is pissed away to the unions and the general inefficiencies inherent in government. However it is not anything remotely close the many billions of dollars that would be required to really make all our roads last longer. Even the major tollway projects that need to be done (which arguably have stricter cost control) each run into the $2-5B range depending which one you're talking about.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

I-80 carries an enormous amount of regional and cross-country truck traffic due to it's location, connections to other high traffic routes, and utter lack of alternative routes. This busts the surface paving to crap in very little time.

lol, do you not understand that 80 goes through Iowa as well? You know, where I said I live? Nah... you'll ignore that and spew your ignorant BS. 80 across iowa is MUCH better than 80 in Iowa. Hell, they've been working on 80 right across the border for over 2 years now - I've driven it a lot the past 2 years as many of my projects have been in Ill. Meh, wallow in your ignorance if you must.

 

[nick1985]

lol, do you not understand that 80 goes through Iowa as well? You know, where I said I live? Nah... you'll ignore that and spew your ignorant BS. 80 across iowa is MUCH better than 80 in Iowa. Hell, they've been working on 80 right across the border for over 2 years now - I've driven it a lot the past 2 years as many of my projects have been in Ill. Meh, wallow in your ignorance if you must.

But he said that in Illinois we have trucks on our roads that hurt them more.


Wait, isnt the famous I80 truck stop in Iowa that gets more truck traffic than just about anywhere else in the US? Damn, there goes that argument

 

[CADsortaGUY]

IDOT is by no means perfect, however things could be much worse.

Try the Bay Bridge replacement project that Caltrans is in charge of.

ok, so you might win if you compare one incompetent dot to another but really? lol

 

[K1052]

lol, do you not understand that 80 goes through Iowa as well? You know, where I said I live? Nah... you'll ignore that and spew your ignorant BS. 80 across iowa is MUCH better than 80 in Iowa. Hell, they've been working on 80 right across the border for over 2 years now - I've driven it a lot the past 2 years as many of my projects have been in Ill. Meh, wallow in your ignorance if you must.

That's nice but I-80 meets up with I-39, I-94, I-55, and I-57 here in IL. That basically means that all the trucking from the mid/upper midwest and great lakes region rolls over it here. Plus all the freight that comes into Chicago on rail and is transferred to trucks at the huge intermodal yards the railroads operate.

Iowa has two interstates to care for with a small fraction of the mileage that we do.

 

[IcePickFreak]

I-94 from the state line to Milwaukee and I-65 to Indy have been big pieces of shit for as long as I can remember.

I-94 from the stateline up to Milwaukee just got redone over the past year or two. Most of it is done except right by the stateline (south of hwy 50), or at least that was still being worked on last time I was down there a month or so ago. There may be a ramp or two north of that still being finished but that's about it. I was driving it daily from basically Mitchell Intl. to hwy 158 and it was pretty terrible but they did a decent job on it in a relatively short time. How long it will last that way is yet to be seen though.

The interstate around Chicago on the other hand, last time I remember it resembling a road was late 90's going to Route 66 in Joliet when it first opened. Once construction started I just took the back road county hwys into the city if I was going there, or just took 39/90 around it - it was worth it going that far out of the way. I stopped asking people if the roads down there are still messed up after about 5 years and just take it as a given. Now it seems I just avoid Chicago all together as I haven't been down into the city in a few years.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

That's nice but I-80 meets up with I-39, I-94, I-55, and I-57 here in IL. That basically means that all the trucking from the mid/upper midwest and great lakes region rolls over it here. Plus all the freight that comes into Chicago on rail and is transferred to trucks at the huge intermodal yards the railroads operate.

Iowa has two interstates to care for with a small fraction of the mileage that we do.

lol, keep trying to make excuses if you must. It still doesn't change the fact that the roads are trash and take WAY too long to "repair". There is just as much traffic on 80 here in Iowa as there is on 80 in illinois. The only part that may see more is right in the metro but that's a small fraction of the milage 80 has in illinois.

yeah, we have 2 interstates(not counting 380,235,etc) that go border to border. And? Does that change the traffic loads? Only way to get north south is 35. 80 is the only way to get east west. They see plenty of traffic and see the same weather you see in illinois. Keep spinning your wheels though - it's quite entertaining.

 

[piasabird]

Shhh, the construction unions need work also. We have to pay for them to stand around at least half of their day.

 

[olds]

IIRC, asphalt construction is generally about 1 million per lane mile.

 

[Zebo]

Shhh, the construction unions need work also. We have to pay for them to stand around at least half of their day.

More like 7 guys to hold up shovels watching 1 working every time I've driven by. So assuming they switch off thats 1 hour of work and 7 hours standing or sitting in truck.

 

[dainthomas]

IIRC, asphalt construction is generally about 1 million per lane mile.

With all the different lanes involved and various bridges constructed, 40 mil seems like a reasonable ballpark figure. Massive thread backfire.

ZOMG UNIONS GOVERNMENT WASTE OBAMA COMMUNISTS PELOSI!!!11!1

 

[ericlp]

No...I'm concerned about how much federal money is being pissed away. Its just sick.

I guess you want it pissed away in Iraq instead?

Some people are so clueless.

 

[chucky2]

I guess you want it pissed away in Iraq instead?

Some people are so clueless.

Don't you mean Gitmo? The prison Obummer said he'd have closed and is still open?

I'd actually just rather have roads that aren't redone every 3 years and are bad after a year and half, while I drive past and see 6 workers standing around looking at the 15 miles of interstate they've got torn up, while we're all crawling along in one lane.

As for Iraq, I'd rather have the federal government actually do something proactively against a threat than wait around for it to acquire something minor, like say, nukes, that will completely destabilize a region we - and the rest of the world - need to keep our economies running. If they were wrong, the worst thing for that region will be progress in 10-20 years they wouldn't see for another 700 years at the rate they've been going about things.

Crazy expectations, I know....

 

[werepossum]

More like 7 guys to hold up shovels watching 1 working every time I've driven by. So assuming they switch off thats 1 hour of work and 7 hours standing or sitting in truck.

The stimulus was for shovel ready projects, and nothing uses shovels like road construction. True, they can lean on other things, but shovels work best.

 

[chucky2]

The best is when the roads all ripped up though, for weeks, basically zero work is being accomplished, yet, the thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people are jammed and f'd at rush hour - each way - on the one or two lanes that are open.

Meanwhile, all those poor workers are at the bar (where alcohol costs 5x more), in their brand new trucks, talking about the new HDTV they just got.

Got to love 'shovel ready' funding....

Chuck

P.S. And Yes, I know quite a few of those workers, and Yes, that stereotype fits just fine for a disturbingly large % of them.

 

[K1052]

There is just as much traffic on 80 here in Iowa as there is on 80 in illinois.

uh, no

congestion is so bad on I-80 here that Illinois and Indiana are planning an entirely new 4 to 6 lane southern expressway bypass to augment I-80

 

[CADsortaGUY]

uh, no

congestion is so bad on I-80 here that Illinois and Indiana are planning an entirely new 4 to 6 lane southern expressway bypass to augment I-80

Uh yes. Try reading again. You seem to only be concentrating on the small portion of I80 that is in the METRO. If you'd have been paying attention - I've been talking about the rest of it.

 

[K1052]

Uh yes. Try reading again. You seem to only be concentrating on the small portion of I80 that is in the METRO. If you'd have been paying attention - I've been talking about the rest of it.

Since the metro area roads get the most punishment by far they are up first for the funds. Outlying segments of interstate and state routes usually get to go last.

Again, our needs dwarf yours in sheer mileage and traffic volume.

BTW if you could please reject those rail funds the feds are sending you like the cheeseheads in WI so that us in IL could have them that would be great. Thnx.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Since the metro area roads get the most punishment by far they are up first for the funds. Outlying segments of interstate and state routes usually get to go last.

Again, our needs dwarf yours in sheer mileage and traffic volume.

BTW if you could please reject those rail funds the feds are sending you like the cheeseheads in WI so that us in IL could have them that would be great. Thnx.

lol, yeah, have everyone else pay for your roads... let them eat cake... etc... you are quite the piece of work. defend defend defend

Anyway, I wish I could tell BHO to shove his rail money up his ass. It's a HUGE waste of tax payer monies. There is a thread around here about it.

 

[senseamp]

lol, yeah, have everyone else pay for your roads... let them eat cake... etc... you are quite the piece of work. defend defend defend

Anyway, I wish I could tell BHO to shove his rail money up his ass. It's a HUGE waste of tax payer monies. There is a thread around here about it.

What's the big deal with spending this money again? It's not like it disappears. It will be spent either directly on construction equipment or worker salaries who will then spend it on goods and services, creating more jobs and more tax revenue, and in the process you'll get roads, bridges, high speed rail, and other infrastructure to improve our productivity and efficiency. Or we could just let this money sit in an account somewhere and pay unemployment to people and get nothing.

 

[manimal]

What's the big deal with spending this money again? It's not like it disappears. It will be spent either directly on construction equipment or worker salaries who will then spend it on goods and services, creating more jobs and more tax revenue, and in the process you'll get roads, bridges, high speed rail, and other infrastructure to improve our productivity and efficiency. Or we could just let this money sit in an account somewhere and pay unemployment to people and get nothing.

ya but if we just return to gravel roads like they are in some poor counties that will stimulate the economy by making everyone buy an SUV and buy more gas. The stimulated economy will be that of saudi arabia though...

 

[K1052]

lol, yeah, have everyone else pay for your roads... let them eat cake... etc... you are quite the piece of work. defend defend defend

Anyway, I wish I could tell BHO to shove his rail money up his ass. It's a HUGE waste of tax payer monies. There is a thread around here about it.

$8B versus the trillions wasted on wars, drug prohibition, old people refusing to move the SS age, or dozens of other programs that are a huge drain on us.

Most politicians are fighting over pennies to amuse the ignorant masses while lighting their cigars with $1000 bills, in the legislative sense.

 

[hal2kilo]

http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9620_11057-247199--,00.html



Mighty nice of everyone to pitch in. It didn't *need* to get done but Jenny and Obama thought it was worth $40 mil.

Could of been alot cheaper if they could find the Walmart of road builders. Damn, then we'd be bitching about all the Chinese illegal aliens.

 

[chucky2]

ya but if we just return to gravel roads like they are in some poor counties that will stimulate the economy by making everyone buy an SUV and buy more gas. The stimulated economy will be that of saudi arabia though...

You may be onto something there for IL: Gravel would be smoother and theoretically much faster - even in IL construction time - to repair. Maybe gravel made with the bleeding tears of liberals? Doh, that won't work, the Utopia in IL produced by the Dem's here means no tears....oh well, back to the suspension proving grounds we call our roads here...