NYC/NJ roads suck

[mclasser]

Was in the NYC/NJ area over the weekend visiting some friends. If I had to choose between getting a root canal and driving there, I'd pick the root canal. My gripes:

-- Narrow lanes. They decided to cram 4 lanes into parts of the Garden State Parkway when there is realistically only room for 3. The speed limit is 55 but people go 70-75 and can barely maintain control of their cars when taking the tight bends so fast. I nearly got sideswiped on several occasions by these clowns.

-- Potholes and trash on the roads. The Turnpike after the GW Bridge is particularly bad. I had to dodge shredded tires, metal shards and other garbage lying on the road. Other highways in the area aren't much better.

-- Reckless drivers weaving in-and-out of lanes, no signaling, tailgating, honking, etc. It's one thing to be an aggressive driver, but these people just do whatever they want.

I'm glad to be back home. How people deal with the stressful driving up there is beyond me.

 

[crazyoildude]

All work has stopped for months they are really bad now,Worse than ever i agree.. I have no idea where you are from but it has to be better than Nj Ny and to think some of the most expensive zip codes are in this area.. We are considering moving but our people are all here in nj

 

[Revving2Redline]

Arent those roads the best? Taxed people to death and usually dictated by leaders on the left..What a combo. Some of the roads in Missouri/Kansas are scary too. And then when they do fix them they do everything to completely shutdown the street/highway. Kinda wish I could just ride a horse to work instead,modern roads are not all they are cracked up to be.

 

[CT8]

Anyone wonder where all the money the governments confiscate from the taxpayers disappears to?

 

[simple_gifts]

Originally Posted By: Marco620
Arent those roads the best? Taxed people to death and usually dictated by leaders on the left..What a combo.


The irony considering the mess your state is in.

NJ/NY are is a conduit for everything going into New England. Coupled with the weather and the population density makes for a bad situation.

 

[JHZR2]

Besides being one of the most densely populated areas in the world, it is also the centerpoint of the United States economy. One of the downsides to being "the city that never sleeps", is is that it does not ever sleep. That plus weather and frost heaves makes it a greater challenge than some other places. You can hit crazy traffic at anytime of the day or night, and any time of the year, which is fairly unique compared to any place else in the country.

On the New Jersey side we also have some of the lowest gas taxes in the country which means that we also have some of the lowest fuel prices in the country. Too low I suppose because the transportation trust fund is more or less broke. Of course it's like that out of federal level and being that I travel around the entire country I have to say that it's not necessarily that much better anyplace else.

I grew up driving down to the shore on the Garden State Parkway on Friday afternoons. The traffic pattern from the 130s to the 100s exits is pretty bad, but people know how to drive it and it's really no big deal if you're used to it. The worst roads I've dealt with is the Pennsylvania Turnpike ( at all times due to the truck traffic and narrow winding lanes), followed by the turnpikes in Ohio and Indiana, but only in inclement weather (during nice weather there pretty smooth and pretty decent). The I 85 through any city in North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia can be a pretty horrible road. The loops around Houston and Dallas are also pretty bad, especially Houston.

Georgia holds a special place in my heart because I did hit a retread there once. In New Jersey they have dedicated public and private crewsthat chase that stuff down pretty good; but the volume of traffic obviously means that the probability of having something happen on the roads there is obviously going to be worse than on a less traveled location.

 

[4WD]

If some level of refining remains accepted in the region - you should enjoy the cost effective energy needed to keep our economy vibrant. While renewable energy progress is with us year on year - oil & gas will remain important to us all for a long time - and renewable energy will remain an important objective that capitalism - yes capitalsim will/must drive.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Capitalism..Its why Texas is booming and has a surplus every year! Hope and Change hasn't worked and Texas is a model all can learn from. Love the Braums ice cream there too.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Marco620
Capitalism..Its why Texas is booming and has a surplus every year! Hope and Change hasn't worked and Texas is a model all can learn from. Love the Braums ice cream there too.


Mineral rights and a lack of frost help more than the thin difference between two political ideologies.

New Hampshire taxes are pretty low and the roads are fairly awful.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Anyone wonder where all the money the governments confiscate from the taxpayers disappears to?


Well, it seems that the general funds in NY/ NJ cover 1/3 of highway maintenance, therefore subsidizing it. Gas tax and user fees cover 2/3.

 

[rshaw125]

I drove up to NY 6 years ago. Never again. The worst part for NC residents is we have a daily influx moving down here. The people who move here know it all. Awful.

 

[Leo99]

If in NJ and driving the speed limit, please move to far right lane and get out of our way. You out of state folks drive way too slow.

 

[bbhero]

Well you know that area better than most obviously. I will say that when I drive to Lawrenceville on the way to Vermont I felt like overall the drivers up there were all right. Except one ignorant tailgater right as I got near the bed and breakfast we were staying at. The way people drive has A LOT to do with the time of day. Work time= NASCAR or F1. Otherwise people are generally not in quite the same mode or mindset. The roads in NJ and interstate 87 wwre decent considering. I didn't feel like they were demonstrably worse than anything I see here in Virginia. Now road signs in NJ can be a bit hard to find at times.

 

[Mr Nice]

60 Minutes did a segment about crumbling bridges and roads. Obviously cold areas of the USA are very tough and exacerbates the problem of pot holes and wear.

 

[4WD]

Louisiana has no oil & gas and frost is a big problem ...

 

[crazyoildude]

Its so true if you are on the new jersey turnpike and the speed limit is 65 and you are doing under 80 it can be dangerous.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Its so true if you are on the new jersey turnpike and the speed limit is 65 and you are doing under 80 it can be dangerous.


I can only think of one time (grandfather's medical emergency) that I was driving over 80 on the TP, and I was one of the faster ones. I routinely drive 7A-16W, and south of 7A on 295, not daily but a few times a month at varied times, minimum. There is a fast stretch of 295 through Deptford, but it's 3-4 lanes and so long as you're not hogging the left, it works just fine.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: CT8
Anyone wonder where all the money the governments confiscate from the taxpayers disappears to?


Well, it seems that the general funds in NY/ NJ cover 1/3 of highway maintenance, therefore subsidizing it. Gas tax and user fees cover 2/3.

That's a scary graphic. I fear for those in states where they don't even cover 50%. I suspect the Feds cover the rest, and if/when that reduces due to the sorry state of the federal budget, well...

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: Marco620
Capitalism..Its why Texas is booming and has a surplus every year! Hope and Change hasn't worked and Texas is a model all can learn from. Love the Braums ice cream there too.


No, oil is. And some of what I've heard and read hardly indicate a utopian nirvana...

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Originally Posted By: Marco620
Arent those roads the best? Taxed people to death and usually dictated by leaders on the left..What a combo.


The irony considering the mess your state is in.

NJ/NY are is a conduit for everything going into New England. Coupled with the weather and the population density makes for a bad situation.


Yeah, and the fact that our "liberal" tax dollars go to red states via the Federal pork....