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GR Roads are failing


blueradon

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Interesting, yet not new article... :rolleyes:

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=51116

What do you think is more important, fixing bridges first or fixing the roads first?

I have to admit the new southbound 131 on west river drive is what ALL of our roads should be performing at. But I think MDOT needs to put way more attention into the rest of 131, 96 and most importantly 196 in Downtown Grand Rapids. Those roads are hurting, and it is hurting our tires.

I wonder if DeVos is listening...

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Heh, ALOT of our roads are hurting all over the place. I've given up about caring for our freeways and rural highways period. As long as urban roadways and streets are in good condition, then I'm fine with that.

U of M actually invented concrete in recent years that doesn't crack. If used on roadways, there would be no need for weight limits or resurfacing. It endures heating and expansion without problems associated with conventional concretes. It is also being used in other countries currently. Michigan will be testing it when they reconstruct a state highway (not sure which one it is). Hopefully the future is paved with this good invention!

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Heh, ALOT of our roads are hurting all over the place. I've given up about caring for our freeways and rural highways period. As long as urban roadways and streets are in good condition, then I'm fine with that.

U of M actually invented concrete in recent years that doesn't crack. If used on roadways, there would be no need for weight limits or resurfacing. It endures heating and expansion without problems associated with conventional concretes. It is also being used in other countries currently. Michigan will be testing it when they reconstruct a state highway (not sure which one it is). Hopefully the future is paved with this good invention!

I hope the future isnt paved at all :sick:

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LOL, You're only fear is asphault parking, and GR seems to be doing a good job at getting rid of those with downtown development.

But just think, with longer lasting cement which would avoid constant resurfacing, the state can invest more money into other things like, say mass transit?

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Wolverine is right. Michigan roads, for the most part, are in horrible shape. I bet you most Michigan cities did a news story on the report when it came out. I know Lansing got some very bad grades for roads. The only thing it got good grades on (a "B") was congestion.

BTW, I know there is a test highway just north of Lansing near St. John, but I can't remember who is doing the test, or what it is.

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I seem to recall that this road you speak of was made of old used tires. They would be chunked up and interspersed with the asphalt thus allowing the cement room to expand and contract with the heat and cold. I also thought I recalled reading that there was a bill in the MI legislature to mandate all new roads to be made of this material, however it was voted down because of "high costs" to local construction companies to implement....also known as "if the roads don't need fixing every friggin year, what will consturction companies do?"

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I seem to recall that this road you speak of was made of old used tires. They would be chunked up and interspersed with the asphalt thus allowing the cement room to expand and contract with the heat and cold. I also thought I recalled reading that there was a bill in the MI legislature to mandate all new roads to be made of this material, however it was voted down because of "high costs" to local construction companies to implement....also known as "if the roads don't need fixing every friggin year, what will consturction companies do?"

Two of the most powerful lobbying groups are the cement and the asphalt groups.

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BTW, I know there is a test highway just north of Lansing near St. John, but I can't remember who is doing the test, or what it is.

Yeah its like a 5-6 mile test stretch on 127 by st johns...its like wide open flat fields...kinda creepy driving at night lol

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Has anyone ever used the "report a pothole" feature on the City of GR's website? I noticed it the other day and was curious about it.

I have a couple of times, for the real big craters ya know.

How funny would that be if we all called in and marked all the potholes that are forming and complain about each one....maybe we'll have a paved road by then :lol:

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Has anyone ever used the "report a pothole" feature on the City of GR's website? I noticed it the other day and was curious about it.

I tried that once after I blew a tire and busted something underneath my car after banging down into one . . . the City's response? "They did not know about it so they are not liable" . .which was B.S. in my opinon . .don't we pay taxes part of which is for road maintenance? So, ya, report the potholes whenever you see them . .you may do someone a favor . . . .

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I have a couple of times, for the real big craters ya know.

How funny would that be if we all called in and marked all the potholes that are forming and complain about each one....maybe we'll have a paved road by then :lol:

Exactly what I was thinking :whistling:

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I'm no asphalt engineer but I have been to many other places that have cold/warm, snow/rain, sun/clouds and they don't have any problem with potholes.

Sometimes when I travel on Michigan highways, I have to turn the music up louder because of all the noise the bumps makes.

Then sometimes I feel I am communting from Kabul to Kandahar...well ok, not that bad.

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Two of the most powerful lobbying groups are the cement and the asphalt groups.

I'm trying to think who will be producing and distributing U of M's cement. I'm guessing Cemex since they are one of the largest producers? If so, they'd kill the asphault industry for sure.

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I'm trying to think who will be producing and distributing U of M's cement. I'm guessing Cemex since they are one of the largest producers? If so, they'd kill the asphault industry for sure.

You will still see asphalt used in stuff like rural driveways, and roads.

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The only thing that is bad about those is maintenance. I see rural apshault roads getting that chip and tar resurfacing nearly 5 years after the original asphault is layed. That process continues over and over again which can get expensive. Although it's known any type of concrete is more expensive than asphault, newer types of concrete may be a better plan for the future. Asphault is environmentally unfriendly to produce and get rid of, it needs resurfacing often, and doesn't create a good base layer for a long lasting road bed. I believe this new type of concrete will become cheaper to produce making it easier to market, it's more environmentally friendly, and has a minimum 100 year lifespan without resurfacing or replacemnt. Seems logical to use this in rural roads and driveways if you want to avoid the hassles of asphault altogther.

Here's more info on the new concrete

http://www.umich.edu/news/?Releases/2005/May05/r050405

The article mentions fiber-reinforced concrete which is being used more frequently in road, sidewalk, and driveway construction. In fact, steel rebar reinfocred concrete used in residential driveways is banned in my hometown for environmental reasons.

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GR roads are failing. I love this kind of news reporting and biased information.

Who did this report? TRIP

Who is TRIP? I had assumed that it was some kind of lobbyist front for the highway departments, the asphalt and concrete companies and anyone else who benefits from the government subsidized building of highways. So I tried to research it and found their website.

Still not 100% sure what they are, but it is a good bet, that while they are a non-profit, that they are not without an agenda.

http://www.tripnet.org/index.html

These are some gems from that site:

"About TRIP:

Founded in 1971, TRIP is a nonprofit organization that promotes transportation policies that relieve traffic congestion, improve air quality, make highway travel safer and enhance economic productivity."

Sounds all warm and fuzzy, but it really has only one agenda, continuing the subsidized building of highways, while our passenger rail slips to third world standards and sprawl jeopardizes the future of that economic productivity.

"On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, launching the greatest public works program in the nation's history - the Interstate Highway System. Financed on a pay as you go basis by highway user fees, the Interstate System has been one of the largest contributors to America's economic growth and quality of life."

Love this one. The interstate highway system has been one of the largest contributors to America's economic growth and QUALITY OF LIFE?!! It fails to mention any consideration of the huge misallocation of funds to continue to build and maintain these systems, the continued sprawl patterns in both the suburbs and exurbs that these things create (is that the economic productivity!?) and the lack of any future planning with regards to when the oil finally runs out or becomes too expensive to continue our happy motoring.

Of course our roads are failing and congested and just absolutely horrible. We need to make more of them, make them wider and rebuild them, especially when it means enabling the very industries that build them. This is such a biased report, it makes me sick.

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Heh, ALOT of our roads are hurting all over the place. I've given up about caring for our freeways and rural highways period. As long as urban roadways and streets are in good condition, then I'm fine with that.

Most of GR's urban streets are in the worst condition of any in the region. Hall, Burton, and Franklin are all like driving your car down mogul run on the slopes. I'd also be ok with road condition if the urban stuff was taken care, but it isn't (here at least).

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I wasn't specific on Grand Rapids when I said that, or even the state necessarily. It was a surface street vs freeway comparison as to which I felt had more significance. If GR roads are in bad condition, then I'm not happy with that, and they should get fixed before rural freeways and beltlines.

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I wasn't specific on Grand Rapids when I said that, or even the state necessarily. It was a surface street vs freeway comparison as to which I felt had more significance. If GR roads are in bad condition, then I'm not happy with that, and they should get fixed before rural freeways and beltlines.

I knew what you meant. I wasn't comparing GR to other Michigan cities either. I was just pointing out that we have a lot of urban streets in very poor condition, and it seems like these streets are not a priority. I think they should be.

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I knew what you meant. I wasn't comparing GR to other Michigan cities either. I was just pointing out that we have a lot of urban streets in very poor condition, and it seems like these streets are not a priority. I think they should be.

The urban streets that should be a priority are the main through streets and not the samller residential streets. I was surprised when they repaved my suburban residentail street a year or two ago when it wasent even that bad, they also did it very fast which i dont understand why they couldent just close division or franklin for a few hours and get r' done

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The worst stretch of road in GR is Plymouth ave between Burton and Kalamazoo. There's so many pot holes that you can't possibly avoid them all. It's an absolute disgrace, people who come to visit Grand Rapids must get a bad impression of our city after driving on some of these roads.

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