Originally Posted by
Atticus
I am not disputing the reasons you listed, but they are really just a small part of the big problem. I hate the fact that politicians, media, and the populace in general rallies around those smaller issues, and in doing so will ignore the main problem in that we don't spend enough.
If someone were to a make a pie graph of all the reasons why our roads are bad, 95% of the pie would be that we simply don't spend enough, with another 2% for overweight trucks, 1% salt and winter maintenance damage, and 2% for other miscellaneous.
And yet people and politicians cling onto the truck weights, or winter salting, or whatever... and they complain about that to avoid addressing the elephant in the room. Highways cost money, and they eventually wear out, costing more money to repair or replace.
It is really simple. It costs $X to have good roads. If you spend less than $X, you will have bad roads no matter what your truck weights are, no matter how much salt is used, no matter how much crack seal you do.... you still have to spend $X to have good roads.