Well, as if our roads here in the OKC area plus Yukon, Norman, etc weren't bad enough, has everyone been noticing the nasty potholes that have opened up from the ice storm? Since the roads have cleared and the ice/snow/slush has melted off, I've noticed some really nasty potholes.

Everywhere, from places like the I-240 frontage roads near the Wal-mart, the intersection of Morgan and 15th in Yukon (OKC), and different places down here in Norman. A lot of them are really bad too. Massive, and quite deep. That rain really got into those cracks and small holes and really did a number on them when it froze, opening them up.

Roads in this state have long been a problem. A major source of the problem is a gas tax that isn't indexed to inflation or to increased MPG standards in vehicles. I firmly believe both the national gas tax and the state gas tax should be doubled.

Yes I've noticed. I know nothing bout gas taxes, so I can't comment on that.

A friend and I have always joked that as soon as you hit states going other directions, such as Kansas and Arkansas, on the interstate you hit smoothe roads. And you can always tell when youre back in Oklahoma bc it feels like youre driving on a dirt road.

Why have roads in Oklahoma always been so bad?

Yes I've noticed. I know nothing bout gas taxes, so I can't comment on that.

A friend and I have always joked that as soon as you hit states going other directions, such as Kansas and Arkansas, on the interstate you hit smoothe roads. And you can always tell when youre back in Oklahoma bc it feels like youre driving on a dirt road.

Why have roads in Oklahoma always been so bad?

Horrible funding, rough climate, "good ole boy" contracting system, too much agency overlap (ODOT, Turnpike Authority, Counties, Cities, Tribes, etc).

One thing I noticed when I first came to Oklahoma is the abundant use of asphalt. I was so dissapointed to see that the new I-35 in Norman is just a slab of asphalt that will be in crappy shape 5 years from now. I know its cheaper but in a climate like ours nothing but concrete needs to be used. Look at all of the potholes that are opening up right now. This shows me that people at ODOT do not think long term. Once you calcuate all of the patchwork you're going to need to do on it the Net Present Value of an asphalt road will always be more. When it comes to funding the mentality of politicians is "get it done now and cheap so I can look good in my district on the next election cycle", not "plan for the long term."

And since I'm ranting, its very obvious that road funding does not take into consideration traffic counts on specific roads but rather just blankets money into each induvidual ODOT district. It blows my mind how some of these dinky towns have brand new 4 lanes divided highways between them but OKC and Tulsa practically have to beg for money while their highways crumble.

And don't expect it to get any better soon. The gas tax is not keeping up with the growth in traffic and the rapid deterioration of roads anywhere. Down south, TXDOT will be out of money by about 2012, and they are having to shelve projects in favor of private toll roads.

I can't believe they are going asphalt in Norman when the rest of the reconstruction of I-35 in Moore and OKC was mostly concrete. Definitely pinching pennies for a short term gain.

However, growing up in the north...pothole dodging is an everyday experience during and after winter - you become quite skilled at it.

My friends up in Winnipeg, MB say there they have two seasons: winter and road repair.

The salt and the water freezing and thawing do wreak havoc on roadways.

My friends up in Winnipeg, MB say there they have two seasons: winter and road repair.

The salt and the water freezing and thawing do wreak havoc on roadways.

That's pretty much it. The Winter is the only time up north where you get to actually use all lanes of a highway or most road ways. Otherwise starting in April, it is Orange Barrel season.

With relatiely few taxpayers in a geographically-large city, the roads simply aren't going to be maintained very well. Why is that hard to understand? At least we don't have Tulsa's roads!

The stretch on N. Penn, just south of N.W. 178th is absolutely terrible today. It always has huge potholes after any big rain, and today they were so bad you could not steer around them. Be careful on that stretch, because you can truly tear up something.

I don't know why they don't get a crew out there and fix it properly instead of having someone dump a shovel full of asphalt on it once a week.

I'm a road biker (bicyclist) - try riding these streets on tires the width of a roll of adhesive tape, pumped up to 120 psi, with no shock absorbers.

The new 134th asphalt between I-44 and Santa Fe is already torn up in spots from the snow plows digging into it. They laid down the surface no more than a month or two ago.

Pathetic.

With relatiely few taxpayers in a geographically-large city, the roads simply aren't going to be maintained very well. Why is that hard to understand? At least we don't have Tulsa's roads! Who's fault is this? OKC has bad roads become the residents do not "demand "good roads or hold their leaders accountable. It amazes me that OKC uses asphalt and not concrete. Yes, asphalt is cheaper and is a petroleum based product and those good ole boy political croonies get kickbacks and contracts. When I moved to Texas most of the roads are concrete. As far as to few taxpayers, again who's fault is this? If you would hold your city leaders accountable and demand that they make an effort to attract high paying jobs which in return attracts new taxpayers thus resulting in more tax money to fix the horrendous roads in OKC and Oklahoma for that matter. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Maps has not attracted any major employers to the area or HQ for that matter.

I was always under the impression that the red clay soils of Oklahoma are more suitable to asphalt than concrete, because with moisture, the clay will expand more.

If you would hold your city leaders accountable and demand that they make an effort to attract high paying jobs which in return attracts new taxpayers thus resulting in more tax money to fix the horrendous roads in OKC and Oklahoma for that matter. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Maps has not attracted any major employers to the area or HQ for that matter.

Are you saying that the leaders of Oklahoma City don't try to attract high paying jobs? You may differ on the methods of doing that but I doubt that is an accurate statement. I don't think I ever heard any claims that MAPS would attract major employers or HQ other than it was conceived after we lost out on some major employers. It is a lifestyle plan that could have that effect at some point but as has been mentioned many times before in previous theads, it is probably more important in maintaining and expanding the corporate base that we already have.

Are you saying that the leaders of Oklahoma City don't try to attract high paying jobs? You may differ on the methods of doing that but I doubt that is an accurate statement. I don't think I ever heard any claims that MAPS would attract major employers or HQ other than it was conceived after we lost out on some major employers. It is a lifestyle plan that could have that effect at some point but as has been mentioned many times before in previous theads, it is probably more important in maintaining and expanding the corporate base that we already have.

Hmmm, know it was the unsuccessful attempts to get companies to relocate here that lead Norick to come up with MAPS (we couldn't pay companies to relocate here, i.e., American Airlines repair facility if I recall). The article put it this way...Who would want to live in Oklahoma City?

Guess one could conclude from that that MAPS would improve the "quality of life" issues so someone might say Why not live in Oklahoma City? Mayor Mick spoke of it during the MAPS 3 campaign, that we are building a city that people not only want to visit but live.

How many years/decades is that going to take? It has been 16 years since MAPS. MAPS 3 is another 10 years out there. Core to Shore is a 30 to 50 year plan.... Don't get me wrong, not against long term plans at all, but what is being done for the here and now (for high paying jobs)?

Now, how MAPS has translated into getting outside businesses to relocate here I will leave others to answer, other than to say, it seems in the past few years, we haven't been able to attract much other than low paying service industry and call center type jobs.

While quality schools are often cited by companies (partially addressed with MAPS for Kids...we have the shiny new buildings but the schools are still performing at a failing rate), so that is debatable. And how well MAPS 3 gets us to that point, we will just have to wait and see if everything that was promised happens or not.

Devon has gone on record as saying if it hadn't been for MAPS, they would have relocated so the last part "maintaining and expanding the corporate base that we already have." Could be successfully argued.

a couple years ago the those after winterstorm potholes costed me $700.00 by penn and I-240 service roads, i seen huge craters again off i-240 and santa fe, the worse place right now is santa fe in moore between 4th and 19th st.

Larry - I'd love to go into your points on MAPS, C2S, employment, corporate HQ relocation and public education, but this is a thread about ROAD CONDITIONS.

I travel to several states each year (motorcycle rallies, son's racing hobby, etc;) and have found that most have comparable roads, some better, some worse.

I travel to several states each year (motorcycle rallies, son's racing hobby, etc;) and have found that most have comparable roads, some better, some worse.

And I have traveled on some terrible roads in that often mentioned "Road Paradise" of Texas.

Larry - I'd love to go into your points on MAPS, C2S, employment, corporate HQ relocation and public education, but this is a thread about ROAD CONDITIONS.

Well since I didn't bring it up (was responding to ljbab728's post), feel free or respond to it in an appropriate thread and direct me to it.

Well since I didn't bring it up (was responding to ljbab728's post), feel free or respond to it in an appropriate thread and direct me to it.

And I was responding to progressiveboy's post. Agreed, it is very easy to get off subject but some things need to be responded to, at least briefly.

The stretch on N. Penn, just south of N.W. 178th is absolutely terrible today. It always has huge potholes after any big rain, and today they were so bad you could not steer around them. Be careful on that stretch, because you can truly tear up something.

I don't know why they don't get a crew out there and fix it properly instead of having someone dump a shovel full of asphalt on it once a week.

Road closed! haha

Guess they're working on it?

Road closed! haha

Guess they're working on it?

As Meg Ryan said, "Yes, yes, YES!" I ran into that roadblock today and was very happy to turn around and backtrack! Thank goodness our local officials spend their days surfing the web and reading about how unhappy we are! It finally paid off.

I've never seen a stretch of road so unbelievably vulnerable to nothing more than just a heavy rain. There must be something about the underlying surface.

I look forward to seeing just how comprehensive the repairs are. ;-)

I didn't want to create a whole new post on this, but it looks like OTA is constructing an exit directly to N. May Ave on the eastbound lane of the Kilpatrick Turnpike rather than exiting at N. Portland/Hefner Parkway. Also it looks like they are constructing an on ramp from the N. May intersection to the westbound lane of the Kilpatrick Turnpike rather than jumping on after N. Portland.

I didn't want to create a whole new post on this, but it looks like OTA is constructing an exit directly to N. May Ave on the eastbound lane of the Kilpatrick Turnpike rather than exiting at N. Portland/Hefner Parkway. Also it looks like they are constructing an on ramp from the N. May intersection to the westbound lane of the Kilpatrick Turnpike rather than jumping on after N. Portland.

Wondered what they are up to there.

A friend and I have always joked that as soon as you hit states going other directions, such as Kansas and Arkansas, on the interstate you hit smoothe roads. And you can always tell when youre back in Oklahoma bc it feels like youre driving on a dirt road.



For what it's worth, I-35 is brand new concrete surface from the Texas line all the way up to the Arbuckle Mts, withholding a couple of miles of asphalt surface south of Ardmore.

When I travel north on I-35 the asphalt on the Texas side is starting to wear. One I cross over the Red River into Oklahoma, I am cruising on smooth, solid concrete.

There have been a lot of resurfacing projects for I-35 and I-40 both, and they are 100% federally funded, so if it took so long to get these interstates up to par, you might want to point your finger at the federal government. Their good ol' boy system is worse than ours.

Now, if you are driving on State Highway 74, that maintenance is funded by the state. U.S. Highways and interstates are under federal jurisdiction.

I-40 west to the Texas Panhandle is completely new pavement. 10 years ago when driving through Arkansas, you had to drive in the left lane because the right lane was deafening it was so rough - like cavitation or a washboard. I am sure they have paved by now but so has OK. Those comments from you and your friend are happily out of date.