OKC Roads and Highways

[dcsooner]

Visiting OKC with my wife and a lot of improvement has and is taking place, but the condition of city streets and highways is simply embarrassing. Driving on level pavement is almost non existent. Cracks, potholes, crumbling curbs. The state of disrepair is a poor reflection on the city and does not scream prosperity but incompetence in city planning and infrastructure managements. This IMO needs to take center stage on the list of priorities facing the city

[catch22]

LOL.

Come to Denver. A world class city but it's tearing my sedan up. I need an off-road vehicle just to drive on road.

Okc has very good streets -- a few problem areas but nothing that reflects bad on the city.

[tfvc.org]

LOL.

Come to Denver. A world class city but it's tearing my sedan up. I need an off-road vehicle just to drive on road.

Okc has very good streets -- a few problem areas but nothing that reflects bad on the city.

A lot of that has to do with Denver's weather especially in winter. The pattern especially in Feb - April is 24 hours cold and snow, 48 hours sunshine. Temps can swing from below freezing to 70+ degrees in that span. Plus they salt and chemically treat the roads, so that can't help either. (At least they did when I lived there 20 odd years ago).

[dcsooner]

LOL.

Come to Denver. A world class city but it's tearing my sedan up. I need an off-road vehicle just to drive on road.

Okc has very good streets -- a few problem areas but nothing that reflects bad on the city.

I hope you are kidding,because by any objective measure to say OKC has very good streets is laughable. Even Mick Cornett admits that��

[catch22]

A lot of that has to do with Denver's weather especially in winter. The pattern especially in Feb - April is 24 hours cold and snow, 48 hours sunshine. Temps can swing from below freezing to 70+ degrees in that span. Plus they salt and chemically treat the roads, so that can't help either. (At least they did when I lived there 20 odd years ago).

Oklahoma has just as diverse weather, and in some cases even worse.

I'm not joking dcsooner, your constant attempts to find anything at all to complain about OKC is getting tiresome. Our roads are in very good condition compared to many other cities. There's problems yes, but I wouldn't say we have roads so bad that other people will have a bad opinion of OKC.

[dcsooner]

Oklahoma has just as diverse weather, and in some cases even worse.

I'm not joking dcsooner, your constant attempts to find anything at all to complain about OKC is getting tiresome. Our roads are in very good condition compared to many other cities. There's problems yes, but I wouldn't say we have roads so bad that other people will have a bad opinion of OKC.

I am not joking, I truly fail to understand why people cannot respectfully disagree with an individual's opinion without questioning them personally. You ignore my initial comment acknowledging progress. IMO, To say our roads are better than other cities does not negate the need to go improve roads in OKC, but I stand by my opinion and respect yours

[bradh]

Here's a tip, roads suck everywhere. I'm noticing that more and more wherever I go.

[Plutonic Panda]

I disagree. Roads in Dallas, Albuquerque, Austin, El Paso, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, Tucson, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and a few other cities have pretty good roads. Oklahoma City isn't the worst, but there are a few sh!tty areas. LA has absolutely horrific roads and it is evident that it stops as soon as you go into another municipality.

On a side note, I noticed Utah has some of the best roads and highways I've ever seen. Very smooth and well designed. Anyone else share this belief?

[Celebrator]

I always notice the nice roads in Florida. And I think they make it a priority there with all of the tourism. The weather is pretty easy on them, though I guess.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah Florida does have really nice roads from my experience as well.

The worst roads I've seen are in Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee. Texas has amazing roads in some areas but they are really inconsistent. For example, Frisco and Plano have great roads. Denton, not so much.

Same thing with Arizona. They seem to spend money putting up signs warning of rough roads instead of fixing them.

New Mexico generally has smooth highways and roads.

Oklahoma is another state that is inconsistent.

Oh, and I'm sure if anyone else would agree, but I think Tulsa's roads are much worse than OKC's.

[bradh]

As said already, extreme weather swings have a big play. I actually though roads in Arizona (the east valley cities at least) were always butter smooth (not to mention the kick ass street light signs in Tempe/Chandler/Gilbert).

[Pete]

Southern California has awesome weather year-round and the roads there are pretty bad as well.

The simple matter is that the U.S. car culture has created a situation where there are too many roads and bridges to maintain.

[traxx]

The simple matter is that the U.S. car culture has created a situation where there are too many roads and bridges to maintain.

This

If our nation was like a European country, which is about the size of one U.S. state and the population of California, then this wouldn't be an issue. But when we travel within our country, we have a lot of area to cover since we're one of the larger nations and we have over 300 million people and a lot of those people are driving age.

[bradh]

Car culture has something to do with it, but traxx is right in regards to the shear size of the country also.

[Pete]

Car culture has something to do with it, but traxx is right in regards to the shear size of the country also.

It's the lack of density across the country that is the real issue.

Not enough tax payers for each mile of road that needs to be serviced. And that's almost completely down to how our cities are developed.

Australia is almost as big with a fraction of the population, but that population is much more tightly clustered in its cities.

Same with Canada, as both those countries were not developed under the powerful auto making and petroleum lobbies.

[AP]

For reference:
Australia = 2.97 million mi²
Contiguous USA = 3.12 million mi²

[jn1780]

Most of the population of Australia is packed along the east coast. Kangaroos don't need nice interstates in the outback.

[Pete]

^ In relatively dense cities with tons of public transportation. Same with Canada.

Interstate highways in the U.S. are a tiny fraction of our total streets and roads.

[AP]

Most of the population of Australia is packed along the east coast. Kangaroos don't need nice interstates in the outback.

This response correlates directly to your statement.

It's the lack of density across the country that is the real issue.

Not enough tax payers for each mile of road that needs to be serviced. And that's almost completely down to how our cities are developed.

Australia is almost as big with a fraction of the population, but that population is much more tightly clustered in its cities.

Same with Canada, as both those countries were not developed under the powerful auto making and petroleum lobbies.

[AP]

^ In relatively dense cities with tons of public transportation. Same with Canada.

Interstate highways in the U.S. are a tiny fraction of our total streets and roads.

But remember, we are more free in the US than they are. That's what driving gives us. Freedom.

[Pete]

Currently, there are 4.12 million miles of road in the United States, according to the Federal Highway Administration, including Alaska and Hawaii. The core of the nation’s highway system is the 47,575 miles of Interstate Highways

http://www.artba.org/about/faq/

[bradh]

Land size is where I think the comparisons to Australia should probably end. I won't argue about how cities are developed and all that, but figure that our population was last equal to Australia's current population before the Civil War (also before oil and auto making lobbies), I'd say we had some other factors as well.

[bradh]

But remember, we are more free in the US than they are. That's what driving gives us. Freedom.

No one said that, but nice jab

[Pete]

^

The point is that for a newish country, the U.S. has been developed much differently than others like Canada and Australia (also newish, and well-capitalized).

It's not the size of the country, it's how it develops its cities that has the biggest impact on ability to maintain infrastructure.

Simply put, the more people you have in an area, the more tax dollars for maintenance and less need to keep building new stuff out in the boonies.

[bradh]

^

The point is that for a newish country, the U.S. has been developed much differently than others like Canada and Australia (also newish, and well-capitalized).

It's not the size of the country, it's how it develops its cities that has the biggest impact on ability to maintain infrastructure.

Simply put, the more people you have in an area, the more tax dollars for maintenance and less need to keep building new stuff out in the boonies.

No doubt. So who do we blame? The auto makers and oil companies, or the pioneers of the frontier in the 1800's who said "go west!"?

It is something to wonder, if the US had developed like those other countries. Would we all be living in Japan-like density, with vast country side in the middle that no one occupies? (edit - wait, that'd be Mexico)