1139 miles on (bad) California Roads
1139 is the number of miles I put on the rental car last week. (I'm back in Chicago - my business side-trip to Salt Lake City got cancelled.) There will be more reflections on my recent travels, but today's discussion is roads, California-style.
Rural roads in California suck greatly. I say this having, for the second time, put a lot of miles on said roads. See, most states, when they build roads:
1) Make some effort to straighten them, rather than let them amble like a cow-path.
2) Raise the road above the ground. This means that, if the area gets a half-inch of rain, the damn road doesn't flood out.
3) Attempt to reduce radical changes in elevation. For example, parts of the "freeway" called California 247 are more like roller-coasters then roads.
The change is striking, and not related to geography. See, for example, the road out of the north end of Death Valley. On the California side, it's a winding piece of shit. On the Nevada side, it's Nevada 267, a straight, above-grade, and perfectly serviceable road, albeit one completely desolate of humanity. It's the kind of road where if you see a car pulled off on the side, you (or I, in this case) stop and ask if they need help. You can stop on the road - there's no traffic.
So, what's California's problem?
Rural roads in California suck greatly. I say this having, for the second time, put a lot of miles on said roads. See, most states, when they build roads:
1) Make some effort to straighten them, rather than let them amble like a cow-path.
2) Raise the road above the ground. This means that, if the area gets a half-inch of rain, the damn road doesn't flood out.
3) Attempt to reduce radical changes in elevation. For example, parts of the "freeway" called California 247 are more like roller-coasters then roads.
The change is striking, and not related to geography. See, for example, the road out of the north end of Death Valley. On the California side, it's a winding piece of shit. On the Nevada side, it's Nevada 267, a straight, above-grade, and perfectly serviceable road, albeit one completely desolate of humanity. It's the kind of road where if you see a car pulled off on the side, you (or I, in this case) stop and ask if they need help. You can stop on the road - there's no traffic.
So, what's California's problem?