Wow, the I-70 through Colorado is horrible!

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SargeW

SargeW

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We were on I-70 today from moving from Moab to Breckenridge CO.  Going up the mountain over Vail and down the other side was horrible!  We were on some of the most pot holed, rutted, and just crappy road surface I have been on in a long time.  The scenery  was great and the weather plesant, but beating we took in the RV was bad. 

In many sections of the road there were vents or drain grates that crossed the roadway at an angle.  They had been filled in for some reason with asphalt, but the asphalt has sunk badly, and now they are like a continuous row of reverse speed bumps that go on for a few miles at a time.  And I thought the I-5 in Ca was bad. The 5 can't hold a candle to this road! :eek:

At one point the ruts were so bad in the #2 lane, that if I didn't have a TPMS system, I would have thought that I was driving on a blow out! And we were only traveling at 55 MPH or below. 
 
SargeW said:
We were on I-70 today from moving from Moab to Breckenridge CO.  Going up the mountain over Vail and down the other side was horrible!  We were on some of the most pot holed, rutted, and just crappy road surface I have been on in a long time.  The scenery  was great and the weather plesant, but beating we took in the RV was bad. 

In many sections of the road there were vents or drain grates that crossed the roadway at an angle.  They had been filled in for some reason with asphalt, but the asphalt has sunk badly, and now they are like a continuous row of reverse speed bumps that go on for a few miles at a time.  And I thought the I-5 in Ca was bad. The 5 can't hold a candle to this road! :eek:

At one point the ruts were so bad in the #2 lane, that if I didn't have a TPMS system, I would have thought that I was driving on a blow out! And we were only traveling at 55 MPH or below.
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You should travel on I-40 across the Mojave Desert. It is like off roading.
 
SargeW said:
We were on I-70 today from moving from Moab to Breckenridge CO.  Going up the mountain over Vail and down the other side was horrible!  We were on some of the most pot holed, rutted, and just crappy road surface I have been on in a long time.  The scenery  was great and the weather plesant, but beating we took in the RV was bad. 
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I put my 4-way flashers on and slow down.  The thought of my RV getting beat to peaces is enough to make me for get about any time schedule.
 
SargeW

Thanks for the heads up. Just a couple of days ago I posted for info about the best way to drop down from I-80 to I-70. We will be traveling from Wyoming to Arkansas. I think maybe now I will just stay on I-80.

Bill
 
Yeah, I was really surprised Bill.  The state is so beautiful, especially in that area with all the ski resorts and stuff.  The rutting in the road is what really was difficult.  At some points the rig actually jumped back and forth a foot or so just due to the wide deep ruts.  Scared the bejeepers out of the DW.
 
As long as we allow trucks to run with loads way above the design limits of our highways we will continue to have very bad roads.  This especially true of the Interstates.  I40 across Arizona a few years ago was some of the worst road I have ever seen.

I travel State and remote US highways when possible.  I have found them to be in much better condition and truck traffic is usually light.
 
Marty, we did I 70 up and over about 6 years ago and I was driving.  I could hardly keep the rig in my lane.  it was horrible then; I was hoping it was repaired, but apparently not.

Marsha~
 
I40 from Barstow to the Arizona border is in good shape now. Came through there about 7 months ago and they had resurfaced most of it.

I actually went through Los Angeles on the outbound part of the trip to avoid I40 but had to use it on the return part of the trip and was very happy when i discovered it had been fixed.
 
lavarock1210 said:
As long as we allow trucks to run with loads way above the design limits of our highways we will continue to have very bad roads.  This especially true of the Interstates.  I40 across Arizona a few years ago was some of the worst road I have ever seen.

I travel State and remote US highways when possible.  I have found them to be in much better condition and truck traffic is usually light.
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I cannot disagree with your post, but the deplorable condition of all the country's infrastructure is a well-known fact that will only get worse if out nation continues to cast a blind eye on it.
 
The highway system is being repaired, but the biggest emphasis right now is on the older bridges.  Since the Minneapolis I-35 bridge collapse a few years ago, we see new bridge construction everywhere we travel.  While a rough road may be uncomfortable, it's nothing like having a 50 ft. high bridge span collapse out from under you.

Another example is in Milwaukee, WI, there are nearing the end of a multi-year project to rebuild all of the major freeway interchanges in the county as well as many of the bridges on I-94 south to the state line.  The end result will be smoother traffic flow and easier access and egress to/from the freeways.

It's impossible to fix all the roads at the same time, but we see continual progress being made in many places.  There are also several major highway projects within 30 miles of our home, including San Antonio and our main north/south route, US281, adding miles of 4 lane to replace the congested 2 lane highway.
 
They're still trying to get California bridges, overpasses, and elevated sections of freeway re-inforced after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Some graphic images here.
 
We dodged a bullet that day; We were due to travel the elevated Cypress section (near Oakland) at the exact same time the following evening.

I remember calling family in the UK in the wee hours to say "when you turn on the TV news, you'll hear about ... but we're OK".

I was sitting at my desk at home when it hit. Normally, I ignored them, but instantaneously/intuitively knew this was something "different", and jumped into the doorway. Looked back into my office to see the walls flexing big time, the bookshelf tore off the wall, and a pile of books, PC monitors and other stuff approx 2 feet high.

To this day, I'm paranoid about being stuck in traffic under an overpass  :eek:
 
After the I-35 collapse I read a report on the state of US bridges across the country.  Pretty scary read. 

We've been on the road for just over 2 months.  Have seen significant construction both on the Interstates and US highways.  A section of US-2 heading into Kaslispel Mt. was so bad I thought I was driving across a dirt field. 

 
Yep, we are heading to Florida again, and will be traveling many of them. Lots of construction going on in various states. One thing is true though, big rigs, and to a lesser extent, RV's can put a beating on the road.  Sometimes I slide over to the #1 lane if not being followed by anyone, just to get away from the rough road surfaces in some of the far right truck lanes (on a 2 lane road).
 
Dan23 said:
I cannot disagree with your post, but the deplorable condition of all the country's infrastructure is a well-known fact that will only get worse if out nation continues to cast a blind eye on it.
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There is a lot of road construction going on.  But here is the problem as I see it.

You have a home with a basement.  A water line breaks and starts to flood the basement.  Instead of fixing or stopping the waterline break we pump water out of the basement.  As a result the basement will never be usable unless we fix the broken water line.

That is what we are doing to our highway system.  We repair but do not correct the reason the roads are being torn up by vehicles that weight more than the roadway was designed for.

 
Can you show that the road replacements aren't being built to better withstand the higher loads and increased traffic?  In many places additional lanes are being added and that will reduce the wear on the individual lanes.  I would think our engineers are smarter than you give them credit for.
 
When I moved to Florida last year I was horrified at the thought of paying a toll to use a toll road since they virtually don't exist out west where I lived the last 30 years. But then I started driving on them and I was amazed. They are the smoothest and best maintained roads I have ever driven on. The tolls aren't cheap but they are cheaper than replacing suspension parts so now I have a SunPass and use the toll roads all the time.

I was in California a few months ago and I was shocked at how bad the roads are. I am glad to hear they have fixed I-40  in the Mojave, it was beyond horrid.
 
As I recall, the interstate system was built in the 50's and 60's.  So they've had a bit of use.  I remember toll roads in Illinois while driving to Florida in the mid 70's, but no toll roads in Florida or other states from Minnesota to the Keys.  So, maybe the Florida toll roads are a bit newer.  Also, in California, the toll roads, at least on the weekends are not used much. 
 
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