Highway Construction Insanity

[bwframe]

I had some nieces and nephews graduate this year and could not avoid driving across the state the past couple days for open houses. I spent eleven hours on the road for eight hours of drive time.

While I understand that road construction has to happen during the nice weather months, why does there seem to be no state regulation of construction zones? Why is it so often that you drive for miles and miles and miles at a reduced speed to finally escape and run into more construction on the next obvious stretch of highway? Why is it the parallel alternative route is under construction also?

I cannot see why there is no oversight for the obvious? Traffic moving from one direction should have a clean route alternative without construction until the other project is complete.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I had some nieces and nephews graduate this year and could not avoid driving across the state the past couple days for open houses. I spent eleven hours on the road for eight hours of drive time.

While I understand that road construction has to happen during the nice weather months, why does there seem to be no state regulation of construction zones? Why is it so often that you drive for miles and miles and miles at a reduced speed to finally escape and run into more construction on the next obvious stretch of highway? Why is it the parallel alternative route is under construction also?

I cannot see why there is no oversight for the obvious? Traffic moving from one direction should have a clean route alternative without construction until the other project is complete.

Im on the road almost everyday for my job so I understand your frustrations Burl.

It also grinds my gears when they have ten miles if barrels or cones for one mile of actual work being done

 

[BugI02]

I have to give PA props, their construction zone signs also have flashing lights and are only in force if those lights are enabled. On the recent holiday weekend, you could hit the beginning of the zone, the barrels were out (although no lanes were temporarily narrowed, only those areas narrowed with jersey barriers were constrained) but you knew immediately that construction had been halted to allow for as unrestricted a flow as possible

If some local PD tried to target me, I would only have to show the feed from my dash cam as I entered the zone - no lights, no restrictions

 

[KMaC]

The State approves the designer's plans for maintaining traffic flow.
The construction zones are much longer than the actual work area. They want traffic to be slowed long before they reach the workers. Additionally, there may be several jobs within the construction zone and the work area may move around during the life of that contract.
Having simultaneous construction on parallel routes is poor planning unless one of the jobs was an unexpected emergency. Last year INDOT had construction between Indy & Crawfordsville on I-74, US 136 and SR236. A real bear.

 

[phylodog]

We (humans) are getting ready to perform a human head transplant, we've sent men to the moon, sending men & women into outer space barely makes the news and we have created weapons powerful enough to erase all life on earth in a matter of minutes, but........











We can't come up with the technology to pave a stretch of highway that will last more than two years? Yeah, follow the money. Road maintenance is a billion, if not trillion dollar racket.

 

[Outlaw]

I understand your frustrations but please be safe when driving past us working on the road. We have families as well.

 

[bwframe]

...It also grinds my gears when they have ten miles if barrels or cones for one mile of actual work being done

...We can't come up with the technology to pave a stretch of highway that will last more than two years? Yeah, follow the money. Road maintenance is a billion, if not trillion dollar racket.

Yes and yes.

The State approves the designer's plans for maintaining traffic flow...

Who how and where are those in charge of this held accountable?

I understand your frustrations but please be safe when driving past us working on the road. We have families as well.

No one disputes that you should be safe. That said, it has to be terribly frustrating/fearful for you to know that a majority of folks driving through your work area are infuriated by the construction conditions?

 

[Backpacker]

I understand your frustrations but please be safe when driving past us working on the road. We have families as well.

Too many of us are in a hurry. Thanks for all you do. Some of us do slow down.

 

[KMaC]

Yes and yes.



Who how and where are those in charge of this held accountable?

Don't know what you mean by "held accountable". If you think the construction zone is unsafe you should call the appropriate INDOT District offices to express your concerns.

 

[bwframe]

...Don't know what you mean by "held accountable". If you think the construction zone is unsafe you should call the appropriate INDOT District offices to express your concerns.

I feel that traffic flow is poorly managed. Undo hinderance of those using the roadways. This is the accountability that I am referring to.

I can only speculate about the safeness of construction zones. Like any other business, if you infuriate your customer base as the result of your poor management, then that might well have safety repercussions?

Safety was certainly addressed above. No one wants road crews or drivers to be unsafe.

This thread is not about safety. It is about poor or no thinking in relation to proper traffic flow on the roadways for the drivers/consumers/taxpayers.

 

[Indy317]

While I understand that road construction has to happen during the nice weather months, why does there seem to be no state regulation of construction zones?

It is the road construction lobby mostly, with a little bit of the trucker lobby as well. All these multi-state trips with cargo should be on rail lines, but this country decided the most efficient way was basically one big engine, one big box at a time. Semi-tractors and trailers have their place, but had the country designed a shipping system based upon rail and rail hubs, our roads would be safer and last a lot longer. Also, the country is growing and the only roads I really see being widen are the interstates for the most part.

 

[edporch]

I understand your frustrations but please be safe when driving past us working on the road. We have families as well.

Times sure have changed as far as safety goes!
Reminds me of the summers of 1974 and 1975 when I had a summer job with the Indiana State Highway Department up in NW Indiana in Jasper County.

There would be a bad spot on I-65, and they would make it a 1 day job to tear out a section of the road, and pour hot mix into it 1 lane at a time.

I was 18 and 19 years old those summers, and they sent me to "slow the traffic down" about 1/2 mile or so up the road.

I REMEMBER standing in the middle of I-65 with NO BARRELS OR CONES and just a flag on a wooden stick with a bright orange vest on and a yellow hard hat.

My job as to slow them down and wave them over to one lane.

I had to be fast on my feet and ready to jump out of the way for my life to keep from getting run over.

I had semis bearing down on me within feet of me.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Im on the road almost everyday for my job so I understand your frustrations Burl.

It also grinds my gears when they have ten miles if barrels or cones for one mile of actual work being done

This bugs me too. While driving in upstate NY several years ago, they had it right. If they were working on a 100 yard stretch of road, they had maybe 300 yards of lane restrictions rather than miles of restrictions for repairing a short stretch of road.

 

[Outlaw]

Times sure have changed as far as safety goes!
Reminds me of the summers of 1974 and 1975 when I had a summer job with the Indiana State Highway Department up in NW Indiana in Jasper County.

There would be a bad spot on I-65, and they would make it a 1 day job to tear out a section of the road, and pour hot mix into it 1 lane at a time.

I was 18 and 19 years old those summers, and they sent me to "slow the traffic down" about 1/2 mile or so up the road.

I REMEMBER standing in the middle of I-65 with NO BARRELS OR CONES and just a flag on a wooden stick with a bright orange vest on and a yellow hard hat.

My job as to slow them down and wave them over to one lane.

I had to be fast on my feet and ready to jump out of the way for my life to keep from getting run over.

I had semis bearing down on me within feet of me.

Oh I'm sure. I couldnt imagine doing it back then. I drive a mixer so usually we only have barrels when we do patches. It's amazing the disregard for life that people have when driving by us.

The craziest is when we ride the emergency lane to get through traffic to the patches. People try to block us from getting to the jobsite, follow us , or cut in front of us and do the same thing.

 

[pute62]

I travel 69 North up to Anderson daily and still can't figure out how a semi going 50 mph on a flat,straight road can just all of a sudden......... roll over.

 

[Outlaw]

I travel 69 North up to Anderson daily and still can't figure out how a semi going 50 mph on a flat,straight road can just all of a sudden......... roll over.

Exactly. I was just up there last week working on that bridge. The whole time im going 50 there are people riding my ass, flying by me, and honking at me.

Trying to get in and out of the median in a 90,000 lb truck while people are whizzing by is another fun task.

Sometimes I don't think people understand the laws of inertia when it comes to a collision with a concrete truck.

 

[bwframe]

Exactly. I was just up there last week working on that bridge. The whole time im going 50 there are people riding my ass, flying by me, and honking at me.

Trying to get in and out of the median in a 90,000 lb truck while people are whizzing by is another fun task.

Sometimes I don't think people understand the laws of inertia when it comes to a collision with a concrete truck.

With all of these safety issues, (that this thread is not about,) I wonder why the construction companies don't employ security to police their zones?

 

[bwframe]

Work on I-69 delayed; timetable for last leg in flux

 

[russc2542]

Think it's bad here? Try Illinois. Lots more construction zones, way less work getting done. I see more construction workers working in Indiana on one drive than 10 years of driving in IL.

 

[IndyDave1776]

This thread touches heavily on the reasons why I no longer work in highway construction. The state personnel, both on scene and in the district offices and the state government center in Indianapolis have their heads so far up their rear ends that they have no concept of the light of day. The upper management with the contractors will do whatever they can to maximize profit, minimize costs, and do the two with minimal effort on their parts. Those actually managing the projects are generally deficient beyond my ability to adequately describe with language suitable for use on INGO.

The bottom line is that everyone who knew how to properly build roads is dead, retired, or driven from the business by virtue of not being able to tolerate being surrounded by dumbasses, and it shows.

Just for a small bonus, I had reached the point where I was ready to choke the next stupid SOB who used the phrase 'the convenience of the traveling public'. Today, they simply don't give a damn about this, and, again, it shows.