Yep, I'm extra proud of this one. Okla City was just named one of the top 10 cities in the USA with the worst surface roads The average OKC driver spends and extra $600 per year on front end, shocks and tires due to the poor condition or our roads.

My wife has heard me complain about driving the MINI on our bad roads, and now I have proof to back up what I have been saying all along.

Some of the other cities mentioned in the report were Kansas City, L.A and I don't recall the others.

My 03 MCS has no rattles...YET....but these crappy roads may just change that. No wonder my MINI has low miles

I tell people back here that when it comes to decent roads....you just don't miss what you never had

 

I saw that list..I'm curious, what would you attribute this to in the mid-west? Up here in Boston there's the freeze/thaw cycle, coupled with tons of road salt that weakens the asphalt. I'm thinking you don't get quite the same down your way????

 

The worst state that I drove through from LA to Chicago was Oklahoma.

I thought my car was going to blow up into pieces running some
stiff TEIN coilover kits along with high performance tires. but
I didn't want to take the colorado route since I wanted to take the
shortest way possible. the turnpike was real nice and smooth though.

 

I saw that list and IMMEDIATELY thought of you, DJ. YUCKO! Well, Los Angeles is #4 on the list, so I sure feel your pain!


Clover

 

is the detroit area mentioned? anyone? (those of you that live in this area know what i am talking about)

 

And I thought my town had the worst roads. Now I feel bad about constantly arguing with my LA friends that my town's roads are worse than theirs. Anyone know the entire list of 10 and how it was compiled?

 

The following is an article taken from the Daily Oklahoman:
POOR ROAD RANKING NO SURRISE

It was in December that a motorist who passed through Okla City during a cross country move wrote to the Oklahoman to complain about the condition of the cities streets.

"Even after slowing to 35MPH along your central artery, my RV was still vibrating so badly my molars nearly shattered aginst my incisors" the letter said. "Bits and pieces of them will probably be found scattered amongst the un-counted pavement cracks and potholes that now define Okla City for me."

A little harsh? Maybe. But a report by a national transportation research organization says pretty much the same thing.

The annual report by the Road Information Program (TRIP) said the Okla City metro area has the 10th worse urban roads in the nation. (Tulsa was ranked 18th)

Forty-seven percent of Oklahoma City's major roads are considered substandard by TRIP, up from 40% in the last year's report.

The organization estimates that as result of driving on such bad roads, Okla City drivers spend an extra $636 per year on vehicle operating costs. Thats sixth highest in the country and compares with $401 per year for the average U.S. driver.( mad faces added by D.J. cause I'm pissed)

BACK TO THE ARTICLE

The report shouldn't shock local motorists and comes as no big surprise to cty leaders. Keeping up with repairs to more than 600 square miles of roadway has challenged officials for years. City Manager Jim Couch says more manpower has recently been directed towards street repair, and that the city continues to monitor the problem (Yeah Right)

Couch said businesses interested in locating here rarely mention the condition of the city streets, and instead are encourgaged by the lack of traffic congestion.(

"But does that mean we don't need to work on improving arterial roads? he said. "No, we have a lot of work to do"

Keep at it Mr. Couch. Motorists who live here, and those just passing through, will be very thankful.

 

I don't know if this is true or not BUT from my experience the road in New England area are built MUCH better. To me in TN the roads feel like a basecoat and not a topcoat. I guess that makes sense the New England roads go through the hell of winter and stuff and the non-New England roads don't.

I feel sorry for anyone on the top 10 list of bad roads... your poor cars!

-Josh

 

Oops. I just looked it up. My town is #5 just behind LA. In a backhanded way I feel somewhat vindicated. Kansas City is #1, San Jose is #2, St Louis is #3...not really a pattern here. But this is only for metro areas with over 500,000 population so NAM folks who live in smaller towns and believe they have awful roads must suffer without official commiseration.

 

Many of you know that that I lived in central California for several years before moving back to Oklahoma. I drove I-80 to Reno a lot.

Interstate 80 east of Sacramento over to Reno was SMOOTHER than I-40 that runs through the heart of Okla City.

I-80 sees freakin snow plows during the winter months with heavy snow. Okla City has no need for snow plows. Yeah we get some snow, but not like they get on I-80, yet I-80 does not have holes and major cracks like
I-40 has. And I'm not buying the heat excuse either. Other states have heat problems too and their roads aren't this bad.

I think it must be how certain states construct their roads. Just last January I drive to Nashville on I-40. Ark, and Tenn was very smooth. But on the way back, headed west, you come out of Ark into the (Welcome to Oklahoma sign) and that means hold on to your butt because you are going to get a vibro massage.

There is just no excuse as far as I'm concerned for the bad roads. Hey, I know that no state is perfect when it comes to smooth roads. Heavy trucks, perhaps weather play a big part, but I think back here, they have let the roads go for so long, they can't catch up.

And then comes the MINI. I need to put more miles on the car, but these damm roads are hard on the little beast. (I hate rattles)

I guess that just means that I just may have to move to another state with a better climate and better roads

 

Time to return to Cali, D.J.!


Clover

 

Ah, that may be it, we go down further for the "base" layers? Of course nothing compare to the German Autobahn, I recall seeing a National Geographic Channel show a few mos ago and I think they go down almost 2-3 feet for the sub-layers -- very stable road surface! And, expensive, too.

 

American freeways were built with a design life of only 20 years. This was to save money on the initial construction. Odd that half the urban areas in the top ten worst areas are in California.

http://www.tripnet.org/national/RoughRoadsPR052605.htm

 

My city is well under the 500,000 cutoff, and we have some good roads and are replacing others, but with snow, salt, freezing, thawing I'll match our bad roads with any other city in the country. And we do start at over 3 feet deep for the sub-courses, at least on new concrete roads, but this is very expensive. So, most roads get ground down and blacktopped over and usually start to deteriorate in 3-4 years!

 

I get to OKC all the time (work related, from D/FW) and never noticed the roads being THAT bad....but then again I was in a mushy boat of a rental car. In a MINI I'll bet it's much worse!!

 

Clo my Dear, you ain't far off I have two adult kids and a grandson in the Temecula area. We are flying out in August for a 10 day visit.

The wife is sure getting tired of all my complaining about being back here. I think in due time, we may just get back to Cali after all

 

Yay! Temecula is a lovely area, D.J.! Nice wineries and love the old town section with the charming wooden sidewalks and fun eateries. Keep me posted on your exact dates in August! We could have lunch and reminisce about OT-P! Tee hee!


Clover

 

Clo, I would drive the MINI out west, but I don't know anyone who has a trailor who would haul me and the MINI to the Okla Texas border and let me unload the MINI, and come back and get me when the trip is over.

MY MINI drives on some Okla roads, but I-40 west to the Texas border ain't one of em The MINI would be a rattle trap after I-40

I think I may be one of the only people that I know of who actually talks to their MINI and says "Im really sorry for the crappy roads you gotta travel on"

I tell my MINI...hang in there baby...better roads and better weather are in our future

 

Well, D.J., I just got home last night from my roadtrip (I left April 7th). Hubby thinks next spring I should look into shipping Wanda east, then flying there to meet her and drive around the East and the Southeast, then he'll fly to New Orleans to meet me there again, and we'll drive her back home to Cali.:smile:

I talk to Wanda all the time! I bet we all talk to our MINIs!


Clover

 

Clo, I think your hubby has a good idea. As much fun as Wanda is to drive, shipping her east and driving back sounds like a plan. If your headed back from New Orleans, just go back through Texas and avoid Okla I-40 at all costs.

I will let you know when we firm up plans to fly out to Cali in August. Lets all meet up and grab some dinner and drinks and talk about the MINI's

 

I met Rick at the New Orleans airport and we spent two nights there in the business district across Canal Street from the French Quarter....LOVE that town and its FOOD! Then we drove to Houston and stayed at a crappy Comfort Inn right off I-10...

Next day, spent the whole dang day crossing Texas to get to our next stop, Las Cruces, NM. We almost got stuck in a flash flood....very strong thunderstorm!

Drove from Las Cruces to Tucson and stayed at a fantastic place in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains that was built in 1912! We'll be going back there again, as well as make New Orleans an annual pilgrimage!

Yeah...let's do drinks and dinner and yak it up about MINIs and whatever!


Clover

 

Yippeee.


Something for my city to be proud of.

Kansas City officially has the worst roads.
I guess if you can't play baseball, you can always be #1 in other ways.

 

Not just Los Angeles... but all the roads in Southern California suck!

The pot holes are a joke! I saw on the news the other night... that in L.A. County they have some 500 miles of roads that need to be re-paved... but only about 275 miles will actually get paved all in a year.

 

Hmmm, don' t know about the roads, but San Antonio came in third as friendliest city. Well, Howdy!

 

I think why many folks back here can "JUST LIVE" with the crappy roads is the abundance of large american cars and trucks.

I have nerver seen so many Lincoln Towncars, Buicks, and Caddys and P/U trucks in one place as I do here in the OKC area.

I drove my sisters (she's 75 years young) late model Towncar the other day as she needed a new battery and I said I would take care of it.

You don't drive these large beasts, you just kinda aim em the way you want to go. What a sled. This is the first large american car that I have driven in several years and I was amazed at how sloppy the car handled.

Went over what I would call some large cracks and minor pot holes in the big car...and you really could not feel them all that much...

That's why the old farts back here don't really gripe to much about the condition of the streets. These big ole land barges that a lot of people drive back here just kind float over all the crap that just rattles your teeth in the MINI.