Do All the Roads Here Suck?

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Bigfartz69420@reddit

We have TERRIBLE soil and extreme weather, on top of (or I guess technically on bottom of) being low-tax low-service

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mikeisfree11@reddit

That not just Dallas but North Texas in general. And road construction is never finished.

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rwhockey29@reddit

after visiting chicago and experiencing THOSE roads and the kids weaving through traffic on dirt bikes and atvs, we dont have it so bad comparably.

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altynadam@reddit

Idk why you are being downvoted, thats literally truth. I guess Reddit Texans really love to hate on Texas.

To add to your comment, not only Chicago has shitty roads, go drive in Boston or LA or NYC. Quality of those roads is horrendous

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-Nocx-@reddit

People who write stuff like this have not driven across the border from Texas to Louisiana and it shows

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rckjms@reddit

Add New Mexico to the list. It was horrendous when I went through there as well.

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Big__If_True@reddit

I’m from Dallas but live in Louisiana now. Some of the city streets in Dallas are about as bad as the worst I’ve seen in Louisiana

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tbear87@reddit

The issue is they have harsh winters and a tight budget. Water gets into any little crack, freezes and expands the crack, melts and repeats. Over and over and over.

We have mild winters with a handful of freezes at most and a massive surplus we aren't using to invest in our society.

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Anglefan23@reddit

The difference is you don’t have to drive if you live in Chicago. You do have to drive here

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Solid-Relationship27@reddit (OP)

I’ve been to Chicago and drove and unless you’re on the south side the roads aren’t that bad. Traffic on the other hand? That’s another story.

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What got me was Philadelphia, well, Pennsylvania as a whole. Leaving the airport I have never experienced roads in such bad of shape. However, people were fairly courteous, using their blinkers, following traffic signs. Wasn't that bad. I just came back from Honolulu, the 45mph speed limit on most of the freeway was new, but people drove 45 for the most part. Its pretty curvy so beyond 45 would be a bad idea.

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noncongruent@reddit

You got that right. Last time I drove in Michigan I played "count the mufflers laying on the road."

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Careless-Resource-72@reddit

Not just North Texas, Austin is terrible. The clay soil shrinks due to drought and cracks the roads. It’s been particularly bad the last couple of years. It will get better.

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tbear87@reddit

When? The earth is getting hotter and dryer and Texas doesn't spend shit on infrastructure.

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Queasy_Company_6710@reddit

Do you not know how to drive? Lol

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Solid-Relationship27@reddit (OP)

Do you not live in Dallas? Lol

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Queasy_Company_6710@reddit

I know it was a joke. These streets are ass. But I stay in Plano/Frisco so they’re really not AS bad

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sadboyhours99@reddit

You get used to it. Just be sure to have AAA and a tire and wheel package on your car.

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planodancer@reddit

AAA is slow as hell.

They vigorously negotiate prices down for all their contractors, so you’re the lowest priority of a contractor that’s located a fair distance away.

Usually it’s hours faster to use google maps to pull up some place local and have them tow/jumpstart you.

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sadboyhours99@reddit

Oh my bad I meant the BMW roadside assistance - they are fast

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rhyses_@reddit

Yup. 3 nails in my tire in one year here

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-longboy@reddit

I noticed this when I moved here as well. We just recently drove from Dallas to Corpus Christi and I was shocked how much better the roads got 30 mins south of the city. I used to live in Austin and didn’t remember them being so bad so turns out it’s just Dallas.

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Motor-Touch4360@reddit

Roads aren't bad where I live in Dallas, but I always hate driving downtown.

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duncandreizehen@reddit

It’s hard to keep up with all the road maintenance necessary when 50,000 people a month are moving here. Traffic has increased an incredible amount over the last 10 years and the roads have degraded accordingly.

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cuberandgamer@reddit

That should actually make it easier in theory. It's more tax bass, and often the roads in a new subdivision are built by the developer. New roads are also sometimes eligible or completely paid for by state/federal funds.

The issue is cities are left with the responsibility of maintaining much of these assets long term. And once it's time to actually do some serious maintenance on the infrastructure, the taxes paid by development isn't enough to properly maintain the infrastructure supporting the development

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saxmanB737@reddit

I’m guessing you didn’t come from Louisiana.

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Big__If_True@reddit

I’m from Dallas but live in Louisiana now. Some of the city streets in Dallas are about as bad as the worst I’ve seen in Louisiana

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Bosfordjd@reddit

Yes. TX and Dallas have the worst infrastructure I've ever seen.

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KiddK137@reddit

Ever been to Houston, Dallas may have pockets of areas with bad roads but down there it’s a damn shame!

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MrNastyOne@reddit

Have you been on Dallas North Tollway? Smooth as butter.

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Appropriate_Ebb1634@reddit

I’d just as soon drive in LA as the Dallas North Tollway speedway

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MrNastyOne@reddit

I drove LA last year. They drive so slow there!

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ThatPrincessBubble@reddit

Yes they do. I hate it here.

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Endlessssss@reddit

Louisiana is much worse on the same size thoroughfares, if it isn’t federal it’s way rough.

Use 311 or app to report unsafe conditions

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yachster@reddit

Yeah

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likestotraveltoo@reddit

I’m guessing you’ve never been to Michigan

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trusttheseance@reddit

None of y’all ever been out of Texas?

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TheGringoOutlaw@reddit

Illinois had absolutely shit roads last time I drove there.

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trusttheseance@reddit

We don’t have the street gravy of New Orleans, or the straight just dirt roads of Jackson Mississippi, or just the methhead built streets of Albuquerque. I’d say we’re alright.

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greg_barton@reddit

Exactly. I mean I loved Brooklyn when I visited there several times, but I almost lost my Smart Car in a pothole there once. Like practically swallowed it whole.

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marvintran76@reddit

probably something about not having state taxes so the city doesn't have enough funding to fix everything.

the 1 to 2 mile stretch of Ross Ave between Henderson and Hall gotta be the worst 2 miles of road in the whole city

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Medvenger21@reddit

Except the state ran a surplus last year so…..

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MoeKneeKah@reddit

Easy to run a surplus if they don’t spend money on what they should be doing. If they had a surplus there’s even less reason for the roads to be the way they are

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whendoesOpTicplay@reddit

Right lmao. At least if there was a deficit there’d be an excuse.

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Most-Enthusiasm-9706@reddit

Add the medical district Harry Hines children’s medical area . Oof that rough !

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AccomplishedLove6169@reddit

Yes they do, now you can leave and go to a state with better roads

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Dick_Lazer@reddit

I swear they didn't used to be this bad. And I've noticed when they repave the roads are still terrible, they don't smooth out bumps and such like they used to, they just pave out a bumpy ass uneven road even when it's fresh.

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hgilbert2020@reddit

Wear and tear is a factor that a lot of people seem to forget.

DFW is incredibly car dependent and the shear amount of vehicles and heavy ones at that (giant pickups, large SUVs, heavy EVs, etc.) all put an incredibly amount of strain on the actual surface and structural integrity of our roads.

The average pickup truck with a full cab, for example, has gotten significantly larger the past 20 years. Combine that with their extreme popularity in this state and the fact that the DFW metro area is the fourth most populous (and arguably the most car centric) and you get some road degradation to the likes that you won’t see in other first world countries.

That’s why they are always under repair. Whenever one portion is fixed—another segment needs to be repaved.

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noncongruent@reddit

Texas considers the weight of vehicles under 8,500 lbs to be negligible contributors to wear. What really wears roads are big rigs. The key factor is to look at weight per tire on the ground, something like a BMW X5 which weights 5,400 lbs only puts 1,350 lbs/tire on the ground, but a big rig can easily top 4,500 lbs/tire.

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YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit

Yeah, they do. I’m always amazed how god damn bad they are, meanwhile you go out to the hill country and every road between podunk town A and podunk town B is practically good enough for a Formula 1 race.

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alvvayspale@reddit

This is nothing. You should visit other major cities.

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Professional-Mix9774@reddit

It’s partly due to the soil. We have tons of expansive silty clay for our soil. It’s also why we have trouble with our foundations. It’s the worst thing for a road bed. It’s also partly due construction methods. If you see a concrete pour and the ground is wet, it will have to be redone in 5 to 10 years.

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