Where Are We Today
Road Rating
Awhile back, I said I would write a
post on how I rated the roads we travelled. It is by no means scientific, but a
" GUT " feeling, so here is a list of what I look for and sense/feel
as we travel along the road. Keep in mind that we are in a pick-up truck with
dual wheels and pulling a heavy 5th wheel trailer.
 |
| Rated at 6 out of 10 |
 |
| Rated at a 8 out of 10 |
!. How
smooth is the pavement.
2. How many
pot holes are there.
3. Does it
have that washboard effect. Where it sounds like a bump - bump and you are jigging back and
forth/up and down.
4. Is the
road covered in cracks and have they been filled or not, with tar to try and
smooth them out.
5. When
crossing a bridge or overpass, how smooth is the transition between the two
surfaces.
6. When
travelling on roads of concrete, there are expansion joints that can cause
uneven travel if those joints are heaving.
7. If a road
is under construction, I take that into consideration as to how I give my
rating.
My rating of
a number out of 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, is given based on
all of the above. As I think about it, anything between 1& 3 is absolutely
horrible and would avoid it no matter what. Example is I 69 from Lansing Mi.
down to Indianapolis, Ind. The next group, I would say is in the 4 to 8 range,
and that brings us to the 8 to 10
rating. Most of our travel so far has
been in the 8 to 10 range rating, with a few down as low as 7 to 7.5. We have
not travelled on what I would call a perfect 10 except in the National Parks,
the roads in the parks we have been through get a 10.
I find the
northern states have the worst roads, and that is understandable because of
frost heave, where the southern states have the better roads. Now saying that,
where a state, like California, that has budget/financial problems, their roads
tend to suffer.
For the rest
of the winter, I will not rate the roads we are travelling, unless one falls
below a rating of 7 out of 10. Like I said, it's not scientific, but I can look
back and see what I rated a road when we are planning our routes and be wary,
do we try it again in the event that it has been fixed or stay away altogether.
Thanks for
reading, your comments are welcome.
Thank for 7 your ratings.
ReplyDeleteThe ratings are about right and we have travelled most of them over the years sometimes they get better and sometimes worse but then again we have travelled a lot of them over 11 plus years.Our Motorhome handles them much different than your combination too.
Your Welcome George. It's nice to know that I'm not far off on my opinion. Of coarse different vehicles would ride differently over these roads. It was a fun topic between Pat and I as we travelled and thought about what number we would rate each road at.
ReplyDeleteTom and I have talked about roads we would never go down again but we never thought of rating them. I think it was a useful endeavor. It gives the rest of us an honest opinion about what the road was like. We appreciate that you took the time to do so.
ReplyDeleteThanks Guys, it started out as conversation as soon as we crossed at Port Huron, recalling how bad I 69 was last year. Pat keeps a record each day when we travel so I asked her to write down my ratings as I gave them so I could remember to write about it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea although I couldn't keep records like this. Like you I drive a truck and haul a 5'er. I try to avoid as much of Michigan as I can due to the road conditions there. I always cross in Windsor/Detroit. This year due to construction we were in Michigan much longer than usual with I-75 being closed and having to use the detour. I will be watching with interest for your road condition reports.
ReplyDeleteThanks, we haven't crossed at Windsor/Detroit with the trailer and with I 75 under construction would have stayed away from it. Some year maybe we will and I might even try crossing at Fort Erie. Safe travels.
ReplyDelete