Potholes

[castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

Why are there so many potholes in Michigan?

[patric...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

Maybe because Michigan has annoyingly bipolar weather causing temperatures to fluctuate up and down, heating and cooling the concrete. It snows every other day so we use salt and plow trucks on the roads which also breaks down the materials used in roads. Sometimes life just sucks. 

[David Owens]

A combination of unideal weather conditions and a lack of local government upkeep. You can see this just by the huge difference in roads between municipalities. 

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[lehman...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

I agree to all above but I want to add that quality of the job to build it to last instead of repair in 5 years would make our roads nice longer.

[satti....@student.oaklandcc.edu]

I just moved to Michigan, from California and I have noticed that there are a lot of potholes everywhere. I think that this is because of the weather. I have noticed that because of the snow and the salt, there seem to be many pot holes. Just curious, after winter is over, do they fill them in?

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[welch....@student.oaklandcc.edu]

The pot holes come down to weather and poor maintenance. When new roads are constructed there are relief lines cut in the concrete to control cracking. A good practice on driveways and high end roads is to fill the lines with a flex-able rubber so that way when the crack does form they're already covered with the rubber sealant so that the water can not seep into crack and freeze and break the concrete.

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[carlso...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

The reason there are so many potholes is because of the snow. When it melts it goes into the cracks in the concrete and over time it destroys the concrete and the holes form. And then they just get grazed over for a quick fix and get worse.

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[Seth Miatech]

The reasons for potholes is not only the weather of Michigan, which gets very extreme compair to other places, but have to deal with the upkeep of the the road system. The roads aren't built like Rome to last a thousand years, but are built to last within a 10 year span for road repairs. Also the system works against itself to where each year roughly $300,000,000 is set aside each year by the state government to fix or build the roads but really only $100,000,000 of that are used to fix or build roads and it cost about $1,000,000 per mile of road to repave it. There are other places that have a better system like Ohio has about the same weather as Michigan, but has better roads because they made the system work in favor to better roads.

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[tucker...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

Michigan has potholes because of the weather always being cold and then warm one day and then going back to cold. It’s really annoying too bc if they do fix the roads sometimes they just crack again.

[billion...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

There are many variables linked to the destruction of our Michigan Roads, These issues are mostly in metropolis areas, but more so in the Metro Detroit area.
In the 1970's Michigan Legislation increased the lode weight of trucking transportation.

There isn't any set guidelines on the quality of materials for paving new roads.

Newly poured concrete does not last as long as it used to.  perhaps regulations in the concrete recipe should be followed?

Many suggest salting our roads causes problems, but look at how long the Davison freeway lasted, it was one of the first paved highways in MI.

Concrete paving has a higher price tag compared to asphalt paving.

Winter conditions add to the equation as well!

Water beneath the asphalt freezes and expands creating these potholes.

It seems this system is set up for continued employment of road construction workers.

-Mike

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[konja....@student.oaklandcc.edu]

Some states use sand to absorb the moisture that snow gives off rather than using salt everywhere. The ice definitely gets in between every crack so when the salt gets on top and melts through, the gap widens 

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[diangelo...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

It is becasue of the freezing then thawing then freezing then thawing again type of weather

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[mahan.m...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

The weather plays a big part in messing up the roads. With constant thawing and freezing, cold nights and warm days causes the roads crack and then chunks of the road falling out. However just because the weather may suck doesn't mean that the government can't get more people to fix the roads faster. People in the government know what Michigan is like just because there is obstacles to see the road continuously breaking doesn't mean it shouldn't be fixed. 

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[eaton...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

Simply put, potholes are thriving in Michigan because of our weather conditions. At the same time, if we take a look at the roads in Ohio, we realize that despite the fact that Ohio has similar weather issues, they enjoy much better roads than we do. Ultimately, this comes down to money. While Michigan spends about $154 per person on roads, Ohio spends $214 per person. If we add this up, we can conclude that compared to Michigan, Ohio invests by more than $1 billion in their roads.

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[maley....@student.oaklandcc.edu]

Michigan is a state which has a lot of industry. We constantly have heavy vehicles driving on our roads on top of the horrible weather we get for a majority of the year. The pothole situation though should be better addressed by our government. There is only so much we can do with the weather affecting the road. But with potholes in some areas that can cause a flat tire, more really needs to be done on road upkeep.

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[Shebat, Joseph]

You have to understand that the reason why Michigan has a problem with potholes is because if there is roadwork/construction to be done using concrete, due to the constant change in weather, the concrete is not capable of settling on a solid foundation. Concrete will expand and retract throughout the summer and winter time, leading to many cracks that need fixing. This is why southern California does not have an issue with major road repair, for the concrete is able to sit in one type of weather.

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[singh.h...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

The reason for so many potholes in Michigan is the erratic weather. One day it will be freezing and then the next day it won't, causing the cracks in the ground to expand and form potholes. Michigan should use more if its taxpayers' money to keep the roads in good conditions because these bad road conditions cause damage to vehicles and are a risk to the general safety.

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[swartz....@student.oaklandcc.edu]

Michigan does not have a weight limit for trucks. In other states trucks that weigh over a certain amount are only allowed to drive on designated routes to help keep the main roads safer and less likely to develop potholes.   Our crazy weather does not help either. 

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[Kyle Mackenzie]

We also do "cold patches" these are done when potholes get bad but it's still super cold out.  These are only designed to last until the weather warms and we can fix it with better material.  However, we try to make cold patches last years to save money.

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[simco...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

As a tax paying citizen, I should be able to dive down the roads nice not an Air Raid path. I do not understand why they do not use more asphalt you pave it and drive on it the same day. Why they use concrete is beyond me especially living in the suburbs.

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2:27:19 PM UTC-5, castlema...@student.oaklandcc.edu wrote:

[Pryor-Berry, Lavina]

     Oklahoma is doing something right!  Oklahoma gets over $75 million dollars from the Federal government to improve their roads and highways each year.  I give Oklahoma an A+ score for having the best road systems in America according to me.  I give Michigan a D-  score for having destructive infrastructure with too many pot holes and crumbling roads.  Michigan has harsh, long winters that can cause the roads to deteriorate, but this is not an excuse.  We are a leader in the global economy, especially in the automotive industry.  We need to ask for more funding for infrastructure.  The Federal government should provide at least $100 million dollars or more to fix and repair pot holes, destructive roads, and highways in Michigan.  Michigan is an important state that contributes to America's GDP (gross domestic product) each year.  Michigan needs more support!  

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[cmfu...@student.oaklandcc.edu]

I honestly think our tax dollar are going to nothing because our road are terrible. Most cities just don’t make it a priority. Which it should be, right along with education. Having potholes is a huge issue in the metro Detroit area. Cities like oak park and Southfield. I think they just need to address this issue.

[Andrew Ososki]

To add to this, in michigan the highest a truck can weigh is 164,000 pounds while in Ohio its only 90,000.  But the limit could be 50,000 but if all the weight stations are closed like they always are, you can't enforce the law.