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goodbye roads

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zombans	goodbye roads	Lead	[-]
Posts: 115 (04/11/08 14:38:28) Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None Loved this story from my today's paper (and hoping this link still works tomorrow): gaping potholes. I no longer own a car (thank goodness), but when I've traveled the roads in my town, they are in bad shape, no doubt as they are all over everywhere after this "perfect storm" winter (that phrase is getting old already). And asphalt, a petroleum byproduct, is more expensive this year. And so, fewer miles of pavement are being patched and resurfaced. If they are not maintained, they get even more and bigger potholes. Nice trend, if you are intrigued by rewilding or living in a carless neighborhood, etc. The fall of the american empire may not be a loud and hard crash, but you can see the mortar crumbling for sure. carey
hymalaia		#1	[-]
Posts: 5 (04/12/08 00:47:21) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	aren't we being a tad melodramatic here? The article features East St Louis, the most notorious near abandoned ghetto in America. Granted there were some "normal" cities featured and rising oil costs are obviously an issue when it comes to fixing roads. But I don't think bad roads cause of city budget issues are anything new, even if they are a bit worse off than normal thanks to the harsher weather. Perhaps when the suburban streets or wealthy urban streets start causing routine flats slowing traffic to 20 mph or so, that'll be reason to get ready for your asphalt good byes. In the meant time though there is plenty of "road" left and I imagine given our national priorities they'll be amongst the last to go. Certainly 10-15$/gallon gas will become a bigger road block to travel than pot holes. Which is good for us urban cyclists, as a pot hole in a car is annoying. On a bike it can kill you... Last Edited By: hymalaia 04/12/08 00:49:46. Edited 1 times.
lulugraphics		#2	[-]
Posts: 42 (04/14/08 12:20:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	we don't understand where melodrama entered the picture?
zombans		#3	[-]
Posts: 116 (04/14/08 17:34:05) Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	It's just a little thing, adding onto all the other little things, that seem to be a big thing. I won't enjoy biking through potholes this summer, believe me. But I have a passionate dislike of concrete. In my town, they are building a new coal-burning power plant (approved by the Sierra Club). They just discovered that our municipal water supply needs mega-infrastructure repair. Our rates are doubling. And then the sewer department discovered that thanks to low-flow toilets, the treatment plants needs mega-infrastructure repair. Our rates are going up 400%. I wonder, do they shut you off if you can't pay your sewer bill? Weird that they waited until the economy really stinks to hike up all the stuff you HAVE to pay for. I always enjoy looking at detroitblog.org. The inner city of our town is starting to look like some of the pictures this guy posted of rural inner city Detroit. We have so many empty houses in our neighborhood, and more getting torn down each year. I'm not trying to be melodramatic. I'm just excited by mortar crumbling. Can't help it. carey
hymalaia		#4	[-]
Posts: 7 (04/22/08 00:01:48) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	maybe melodrama is the wrong word. Premature? Pavement is always cracking, it's part of the design. And municipal governments are notorious for their laziness in resurfacing roads, especially when they have lots of poor areas (ie, Chicago or East St Louis). But even when I lived in an affluent Boston suburb, average house price half a million, the roads other than a few main thoroughfares were crap. I think as the collapse accelerates we'll actually be seeing better roads, as they won't be burdened by such heavy use. The rich will pay for them as only they will be able to afford using them with cars. And bikes don't do near the same kind of damage as cars. Let's just hope they don't charge tolls for human powered transit. Which isn't to say there won't be plenty of other examples of crumbling infrastructure to enjoy...

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