Why is road repair so terrible?

Because most times it’s done by private contractors that do it as cheap as they can get away with.

Oh hell yes. There was a road near me that was torn up for weeks. After they “fixed” it it was worse.

They simply are using a cold patch this time of year. Same shit, different year. It won’t be hot sealed till May/June.
Get a horse.

I wonder how they can get the job if they do it so badly?

@Forever_Free Then what is the point if, as @Dig_Dug says, it doesn’t even last a week? I think it would be even more dangerous if people thought the holes were fixed and didn’t adjust their driving to expect holes?

Most roads are great where I live! Florida has the advantage of not having a lot of extreme temperature changes. Some of the County Roads, which are more like what I would term country roads, are in bad shape. No shoulder and roots from trees near the road can break up the edges of the road, or heavy vehicles cause wear and tear too. Most are in good shape though.

When I lived in the Tarpon Springs, FL, area some roads were terrible. I think it might have been unstable ground. Sink holes are big time over there.

Years ago I saw a show about road material and how they had an asphalt composite product that resisted potholes really well. Various entities fought against using it, because it would take jobs away from road workers.

I recently saw a show about a town that filled potholes with artwork. I’ll search for a link. I think they got tired of waiting for the city.

These artful pothole fillers are in France, but the show I saw was in the US. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/may/01/the-artist-who-fills-potholes-with-mosaics-in-pictures

@JLeslie You mean they actually had a superior product that worked but they shot it down because it worked to well? That is ridiculous! Some jobs were more important then safe roads?! That should be illegal.

@Dig_Dug It was a long time ago, I don’t know the situation now. It would vary by state anyway, it was a report about one state. I think it was the labor unions that fought the hardest against it.

It had rubber in it, I think recycled tires, so it was good for the environment too.

@JLeslie That would be an even better reason to use it.

^^My guess is it is used. That was just one story.

Depends alot on location. My state is the other extreme. Maryland is almost pathological in road maintenance. They repave roads that don’t need it. This is because the politicians here are corrupt as hell and in bed with the unions and contractors so regardless of whether it’s needed, the highways will always get repaved.

But then, certain county or town roads end up poorly maintained because they’re the purview of a different group and tax base. And of course, all of this stuff is dramatically more expensive than it used to be, even adjusting for inflation. This is because all of the rules and regs are designed to benefit the unions and contractors. The taxpayer has no advocate in my state.

@Entropy Made me think of how Maryland had .12% blood alcohol content, or maybe it was .15% for the longest time for DUI when most states were already down at .08%. I don’t know what it is now. I think during Clinton the federal law became .08. We all used to say (this is back in the early ‘80’s) that it was because the politicians didn’t want to lose their license or be arrested.

I hadn’t thought about the roads in MD until you mentioned it. It’s true the roads were usually in good shape. I compare it to When I moved to Michigan in the late ‘80’s, and it was so much worse there. Also, Mississippi had so many terrible roads when I lived in Tennessee 2005–2012, I figured it was the tax base. I could tell when I crossed the state line by the immediate change in the road I was driving on. When I lived in the DC metro area I didn’t know when I was crossing into the district or VA by the road quality.

It’s a shame how corrupt everything is. :(

All about $$$ now days @Dig_Dug

In Florida we tax the tourists. We also have some toll roads and turnpikes.

Our roads are bad too. I’m glad I don’t drive yet but I still wish they would fix them. My mom is always complaining about them.

The original roads were terrible design and can’t be patched to satisfactory condition . . .most are made too thin and can’t handle the cars and trucks driven every day. The Autobahn had road depth three times as deep (30 plus inches) if I remember correctly.