Ever wonder how a pothole is made? It all start with cracks in the concrete, which seems harmless enough. Eventually every road wears down, and cracks in the asphalt are bound to happen. But in Michigan, potholes follow quickly and fiercely in the winter and spring, because every rain or snowfall fills those cracks with water.
It's even worse in winters like the one we've just had, with unseasonable warm weather following cold weather, and then giving way to cold weather yet again. The water freezes, beats up on the street, then melts back into water, then freezes again.
Not much our fair state can do about it either... every county has its own road commission, and its own road budget, based on what it has been allocated from the state and city taxes. These taxes include portions of your income tax, along with gas taxes and other juicy morsels. But after pouring salt and man-hours into keeping the roads clear all winter, those budgets are in rough shape by spring, and the commissions have to pick and choose which roads are going to merit repair dollars every winter.
So what options are you left with? Not much. Some people think that a campaign of complaining or "raising awareness" might result in larger budgets for the roads, but of course that funding will have to come at the cost of something else. The group at drivemi.org is doing their best to promote wise transportation spending, and this winter they're even giving away $300+ to three motorists who send in pictures of the worst pothole in their area.
The Lansing State Journal has posted a user-fed map of the worst areas of town regarding potholes, and encourages viewers to contribute their findings to the information pool. In the meantime, just keep your hands on the wheel, drive slow, and hit the potholes head-on instead of trying to steer out of them at the last second and knocking your alignment out of whack.
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4 comments:
the streets in my neighborhood are absolutely horrible. i can't get out without wrecking my car. if anyone remembers the lexus add with the champange glasses on the hood, i say bring it to lansing. wouldn't last 30 seconds.
on a side note, i've been asking this question for years, why do they put the manhole covers a foot above or below the road?
why do i live in michigan? inertia.
I recently read that two Michigan cities, Detroit and Flint, rate #1 and #3 respectively in the country's most Miserable Places to live by some convoluted scientific misery index that Forbes magazine invented. It had to do with taxes, unemployment, commute times, violent crime rate, etc. I am with you. inertia
one hasn't seen "horrible" streets until one ventured into Russia. itš all a matter of perspective.
i assume though that the state of Ohio is #2 right?.. seriously, you think it's bad, then you cross the border and drop down a couple feet...
Also, Tom, i'm still reeling over the facts that A) we were both thinking about doing this subject, B) your day came ahead of mine, and C) you made my mental rough draft sound like a toddler wrote it in his own drool.... (the picture really classed this piece up...)
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