Indiana has the worst Highway Dept

[tcecil88]

I’m visiting Wisconsin Dells.

These guys have to get more snow than us and we have been traveling on 3 near perfect lanes the whole trip.

They’ve even got left over money to put rainbow flags at the rest areas. Smh

But for real, who do we have to vote out and complain to get our roads better.

I mean they are really bad compared to a lot of states in the Midwest.

Ever been to Cincinnati and ran the I-75 corridor? They have been working on that stretch from the Ohio River to the North side for over 10 years and they're not even close to being done. Obviously someone is making alot of money to stretch this out.

 

[Ingomike]

Every time I leave Indiana I am wowed at the quality of the roads in other states.

We really are unique in the nation for bombed-out piece of crap roads. Makes you wonder where all that gas tax is going.

I have long believed that public works in Indiana is incredibly corrupt.

Never thought that at all. Again I ask, where are the bad Indiana roads? That is what most tax goes to.

Per Indystar: “Most of the money goes to INDOT for state projects, but local jurisdictions also get a piece of the pie for new projects and improvements.”

“However, officials estimate it would take $738 million to upgrade Indianapolis' streets to "fair" condition, and then another $178 million each year for upkeep.”

Nearly a BILLION DOLLARS to get Indy streets to fair condition. Looks like Indy is screwed for the foreseeable future…

 

[04FXSTS]

Minnesota roads are pretty nice, well the state roads are. Brother in law lived up there and the state roads are in pretty good shape at least the ones we traveled to get there. He was about 200 miles north of Minneapolis.
Then you turned off the state road onto the county road which was only paved for about 25 feet. Then it turned to a combination of dirt and sand with a really nice washboard texture. That was when the roads were dry, rain turned the surface into some slippery gumbo. Pulled in to BIL;s place when it had been raining and he had me wash the vehicle immediately. Said if it dries on a car or truck it turns into something reselmbing cement. His house was exactly 10 miles from pavement. Jim.

 

[Ingomike]

Exactly.

I suspect them of intentionally implementing poor designs so they can redo the work sooner.

There is no shortage of road work in Indy that anyone needs to make work for.

 

[BigRed]

But for real, who do we have to vote out and complain to get our roads better.

I would put that piece of **** derelict doldrum on the list regardless of the roads.

 

[BigRed]

Never thought that at all. Again I ask, where are the bad Indiana roads? That is what most tax goes to.

Per Indystar: “Most of the money goes to INDOT for state projects, but local jurisdictions also get a piece of the pie for new projects and improvements.”

“However, officials estimate it would take $738 million to upgrade Indianapolis' streets to "fair" condition, and then another $178 million each year for upkeep.”

Nearly a BILLION DOLLARS to get Indy streets to fair condition. Looks like Indy is screwed for the foreseeable future…

If you want to improve the roads in Indy, tell the city counsel jack***es that yellow and white stripes on blacktop is a burn loot murder mural.

 

[Shadow01]

Enlarge to see the posted normal speed limit in the background compared to the limit during construction

 

[actaeon277]

I think Indiana has a bit more traffic overall on the roads.
Crossroads of America and all that.

Heavy traffic at highway speeds to a bit of damage to any imperfection, making it bigger and bigger.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Colorado does a heck of a job on construction in the mountains.

Must be all the pot money.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Bitch and moan about bad roads...

Bitch and moan about road construction to fix said roads...

Agencies that do road work literally cannot win. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

What you could complain about is shoddy Work that's done that's missed by the inspectors. Be thankful inspectors catch some of the shoddy Work before completion of the Whole project or We'd all be in a Whole lot of mess Wondering What Went Wrong.

Also, sometimes, despite projects designed to Federal standards, and companies building to said standards, and inspectors also inspecting to said standards - sometimes the surface of the earth has other ideas in mind and decides "hey, I want to slump and landslide here" - and so it does. Also, let's say that an embankment of a fill zone that carries a brand new Interstate upon it calls for a 30* slope (I'm making this up, as I don't know what the angles really are) due to the types of soils and soil interfaces that are present.

Well, if they get a 33* slope in certain spots...add in a bunch of rain over two years... Then BAM. Slope failure. Or the slope stabilization vegetation just won't grow because reasons - and then you get erosion which also steepens the angles- BAM - slope failure.

 

[HoosierLife]

Did you ever get off a main highway not leading to the Dells?
The roads there are generally much worse than the ones in Indiana.
Yes,the extra lane(call it what you want,but it is really there to stack snow) is nice. Minnesota has the same extra lane on all Highways where possible. It would be nice to have the wider roads here,for both farmers and emergency use,but the overall condition of WI roads is terrible.

They where ranked number 47,3rd worst roads out of all 50 states.

The Worst Roads in America (2024) | ConsumerAffairs®

See where taking the road less traveled could cost you

www.consumeraffairs.com

The road to the Dells is paved with tourist dollars and does not really show you the state of most roads there.

Well you may be right. But I still feel
Like Indiana could be doing a better job.

Feels like a lot of nepotism goes into whoever runs that department.

 

[xwing]

It's very subjective. I travel a lot on long driving trips. IMO Indiana is in the middle; neither near the top nor the bottom. But what is truly painful is the constant construction. I agree with DoggyDaddy; they should pick a couple of big projects, throw everything at them to get them done quickly, and then move on to the next ones. I actually liked what they did with I-69 where they closed a large stretch of IN-37 for a year and upgraded it to Interstate standards while there was no traffic on it. Yes, it was painful to be closed, but it was completed much quicker.

 

[HKUSP]

I'm going to try to be brief, but this is an issue I could positively rant on. I drive for a living.

Someone asked about Ohio. I came from there eight years ago. Their roads are fantastic compared to ours. There is no such thing as a dirt or gravel road there. Most of the rural roads I grew up on are at least as good as a State route here. A blind passenger could tell when you crossed a state line between Ohio and Indiana or Michigan.

Yes, Ohio has construction boondoggles just like Indiana but the general state of the roads there is a distant dream for the incompetent boobs running INDOT.

Whomever approved completely destroying the I65 I70 interchange in Indy should be tarred and feathered and sent to Michigan. I would also like to know exactly how many more times the I65 Whitestown exit area needs to be screwed up and rebuilt.

 

[two70]

I’m not disagreeing but what about Ohio? Are they comparable to us? Their roads always seem better than ours.

Considering the way Ohio people drive, the right lanes on multi-lane roads should be pristine.

 

[tim87tr]

They've got the intersection of 50/60/135 busted up now for several months doing drainage improvements and sidewalks

I used to work in this profession. In a typical contract the Contractor submits a progress schedule for approval, and working days are charged on the controlling item listed in the schedule. From much of what I've seen, there's no working days involved in many the INDOT projects I see and drive through. There is no progress that would meet the requirements of a real contract. I would also add the traffic control I've seen on I-70 is a major liablity and does not seem to follow any standard.

Like any large organization there are political forces that trickle down to the REAL WORK, REAL PROGRESS being done by the the boots on the ground employees. Unless you're self employed, many of us have been a part of that failing system. States with good political leadership that I've traveled though, is reflected more in their infastructure.

Exactly.

I suspect them of intentionally implementing poor designs so they can redo the work sooner.

A lot of the plans are designed well by employess according to "budgetary contraints". Even with an outside consultant, the plans are reviewed and typically fine. When a state has a capital program where the funds are bonded, like when a new governor is elected, you'll see bigger projects that encompass total reconstructions that last decades. Otherwise you get just enough funds to do a bunch of "bandaid" jobs that are designed to last only a few years. And yes it might likely be also for Contractors to have smaller jobs more often as you stated.

A mill and fill 2.5" asphalt resurfacing project is designed for a 6 to 8 year service life and many times it will not be resufaced for 15 to 20 years. As stated, I have no idea where all the road/gas tax money goes and I don't see any improvement with the current systems in place. The politians all line up to tell the citizens how they were able to secure funding for X job in X county for political capital. The taxes should already be going towards roadways but there's so much cronyism involved that we're left with subpar roadways. Where I worked if that portion of the State had better roads, per a rating, you would get less money in the future. That should highlight the problems on the roadways we face.

 

[ancjr]

I used to work in this profession. In a typical contract the Contractor submits a progress schedule for approval, and working days are charged on the controlling item listed in the schedule. From much of what I've seen, there's no working days involved in many the INDOT projects I see and drive through. There is no progress that would meet the requirements of a real contract. I would also add the traffic control I've seen on I-70 is a major liablity and does not seem to follow any standard.

Like any large organization there are political forces that trickle down to the REAL WORK, REAL PROGRESS being done by the the boots on the ground employees. Unless you're self employed, many of us have been a part of that failing system. States with good political leadership that I've traveled though, is reflected more in their infastructure.


A lot of the plans are designed well by employess according to "budgetary contraints". Even with an outside consultant, the plans are reviewed and typically fine. When a state has a capital program where the funds are bonded, like when a new governor is elected, you'll see bigger projects that encompass total reconstructions that last decades. Otherwise you get just enough funds to do a bunch of "bandaid" jobs that are designed to last only a few years. And yes it might likely be also for Contractors to have smaller jobs more often as you stated.

A mill and fill 2.5" asphalt resurfacing project is designed for a 6 to 8 year service life and many times it will not be resufaced for 15 to 20 years. As stated, I have no idea where all the road/gas tax money goes and I don't see any improvement with the current systems in place. The politians all line up to tell the citizens how they were able to secure funding for X job in X county for political capital. The taxes should already be going towards roadways but there's so much cronyism involved that we're left with subpar roadways.

I have known people that worked for INDOT, but none with much info beyond what their jobs were.

The bypass in Salem was not a bandaid design. Most drivers recognized that it was a poor design and was the site of many accidents. Placing an intersection in the valley of a main thorofare that carries heavy truck traffic was, to put it mildly, less than ideal.

The roundabout was reworked, while in progress, which delayed its completion... It may be "safer" but still think contributes to a level of frustration in that there seems to be about 10% of drivers who simply can not or do not understand the concept of a roundabout. Just 3 days ago I encountered a driver that had apparently missed their intended exit on the roundabout and in an attempt to remedy that, went into reverse to try again, ended up sideways in the road, and completely blocked traffic.

Where I worked if that portion of the State had better roads, per a rating, you would get less money in the future. That should highlight the problems on the roadways we face.

I think this is a source of a majority of tax revenue being wasted, government wide. The incentive to spend more money so that in the future you can spend more money...

 

[tim87tr]

I have known people that worked for INDOT, but none with much info beyond what their jobs were.

The bypass in Salem was not a bandaid design. Most drivers recognized that it was a poor design and was the site of many accidents. Placing an intersection in the valley of a main thorofare that carries heavy truck traffic was, to put it mildly, less than ideal.

The roundabout was reworked, while in progress, which delayed its completion... It may be "safer" but still think contributes to a level of frustration in that there seems to be about 10% of drivers who simply can not or do not understand the concept of a roundabout. Just 3 days ago I encountered a driver that had apparently missed their intended exit on the roundabout and in an attempt to remedy that, went into reverse to try again, ended up sideways in the road, and completely blocked traffic.

I think this is a source of a majority of tax revenue being wasted, government wide. The incentive to spend more money so that in the future you can spend more money...

I'd worked in Illinois. I had a roundabout job about 10 years ago in a major town, liberal college area that embraced new "green spaces" and a circular intersection in a busy downtown area. Believe it had a Federal grant as part of the funding. Now they're everywhere, like Indy, and it may not be based on functionality. I see it analagous to guardrail end section design. It's the best until there's problems and a new design is implemented.

All of the systems in place to fund roadways rely on political structures above them. States get money from the Feds, local agencies get money from the State through a motor fuel tax formula. I don't see roadways/infrastructure improving when these entities have to rely on those above them, and the entire process is weaponized to a certain degree. You see this with many current problems in our Country, where once decently functioning systems in place get a political and financial power grid placed on them. We all see the result.

I have a friend in Salem so will have to check out the bypass. I'd view that as a design problem, a lack of vision or maybe even ROW issues. The bandaid projects I mentioned are the 6 year life cycle resurfacing jobs that aren't resurfacing for 15 to 20 years, all based on not receiving roadway funds due to alleged budgetary constraints. I live near Route 1 in Illinois and it took nearly 20 years to resurfacing a major State route with probably 15,000 ADT, average daily traffic.

 

[actaeon277]

I have known people that worked for INDOT, but none with much info beyond what their jobs were.

The bypass in Salem was not a bandaid design. Most drivers recognized that it was a poor design and was the site of many accidents. Placing an intersection in the valley of a main thorofare that carries heavy truck traffic was, to put it mildly, less than ideal.

The roundabout was reworked, while in progress, which delayed its completion... It may be "safer" but still think contributes to a level of frustration in that there seems to be about 10% of drivers who simply can not or do not understand the concept of a roundabout. Just 3 days ago I encountered a driver that had apparently missed their intended exit on the roundabout and in an attempt to remedy that, went into reverse to try again, ended up sideways in the road, and completely blocked traffic.




I think this is a source of a majority of tax revenue being wasted, government wide. The incentive to spend more money so that in the future you can spend more money...

If they want to push roundabouts, then I guess they'd better saturate media with how to use the damn things.
Don't just put them out there.

 

[ancjr]

If they want to push roundabouts, then I guess they'd better saturate media with how to use the damn things.
Don't just put them out there.

Well, yeah. Not to mention cognitive limitations...

 

[Ingomike]

If they want to push roundabouts, then I guess they'd better saturate media with how to use the damn things.
Don't just put them out there.

Interesting topic. Most of the Indy area has instructions on their city websites. The biggest problem is many drivers are on the phone, (IMO, this next one is worse) eating, and other distractions, actually hoping to stop so they can look at their phone.

Then the big lack of knowledge is that many roundabouts are different, they are engineered to flow traffic differently at different locations, so some drivers think they all are like the one by their house. Not so…