Is there ever really a "good time" for road construction?

Probably not. But the best times to NOT have them going on is during peak time traffic. Over here they sometimes do roadworks during the night when there are the least cars on the road. That’s more convenient, but even then if you’re on the road late at night and just wanting to get HOME, sitting in a traffic jam at midnight is no fun either.

These poor roadwork people just don’t get a break, haha.

For major interstates the middle of the night. I am stunned in Memphis that they actually sometimes close the I240 loop for 10 minutes at a time to do construction during the day. Close, completely stopped traffic. I have never heard of such a thing. It only happened a couple of days, but I am still stunned. I almost never complain about construction, because I know in the end the result is usually so much better than whatever we were living with, but in Memphis, I am constantly dissappointed, it is interesting that near Nashville things are good. We have on local road near us a hole in hte road, I guess it is a sink hole of sorts, that has been repaired 3 times, and every time they patch it they never make the hole level to the rest of the road, forget that they obviously need to really break it up fill with dirt, probably gravel and then asphalt (I am not a road specialist so I am not sure of these things) so it does not keep happening. The depression in the road right now is about 3–4 feet in diameter, not a perfect circle obviously, and dip down a good half a foot.

I would assume TN gets a decent amount of tax money from the fed for their interstate since I40 is very important. I’ll have to research that, it’s just a guess. Most major roads through TN are interstates, the state is so short top to bottom, that a driver does not feel very diverted to get over to the interstate. As opposed to say MS where it is likely to use roads like 78 to get across on the northern part of the state. I would say consistently across the US the Interstates are in good condition. Up north, where the weather is very cold, it is harder to keep up with pot-holes, but you cannot compare the amount and money and work it takes to keep up with road conditions if you compare say MI to TN.

I would think that the best time to do it is when there is the least amount of traffic. I’ve noticed that lately ODOT has been waiting until 9AM to start things and stopping by 3 or 4PM. I would still prefer to see them do it overnight to cause the least amount of road congestion. However, I don’t know if that would be safer for the workers.

Sunday, cool overcast.

I like the “middle of the night” plan, but in places like LA where it is rush hour every hour, even that doesn’t prevent congestion and huge delays. I also can’t help but wonder if road crews are at a higher risk of getting injured or killed working at night when there is less visibility and arguably more impaired drivers (leaving the bars etc.).

@tedibear I have never considered safety in regards to this, I always think it has to do with money. Maybe you are right?

Yes, when I’m not traveling.

When I am out of town for the duration of the project.

@JLeslie – I truly don’t know. My thought is that it may be less expensive to pay the workers during the day than for third shift work. It used to be true that third shift workers in certain industries were paid a shift differential for working a less desirable shift. As for safety, now I wonder if it would be safer at night with fewer vehicles on the road? Hmmm…

Yes. Vacation time. Millions of Germans are not in Germany in July and August. This is when most of the Autobahn road work happens.

@tedibear Yeah, and at night it is all lit up in the middle of darkness, almost impossible to miss there is something up ahead. Still, I have no idea of the realty of accidents concerning road construction. Just guessing.