Road Ratings

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.