The smoothest road in Tulsa

[T-Town Now]

I'd like to congratulate the folks who poured the temorary blacktop on Riverside Drive just north of the interstate. That is the smoothest road in the city.

At Christmas, I was in the Phoenix metro area, and they have a new highway between Tucson and Phoenix that is constructed of rubberized asphalt. It was incredible. They also have reflectors all over the lanes, that glow red if you're going the wrong way and clearly mark the lanes, even when the paint lines wear off.

Tulsa needs roads like that one. It just costs money, right? And if we weren't so busy taking kick backs and approving substandard work, maybe we could afford them! 

[Wilbur]

Asking:  does Phoenix get ice like Tulsa?

And, while I also like those reflectors used in other states, many states don't use those because they tend to come loose from the pavement.  Those things weigh about five pounds (including everything embedded in the pavement), so when they hit you, they usually go through your windshield.  I remember (Missouri I think) had a lady killed when one came out and struck her in the head and she drove down the road.

[T-Town Now]

No, Phoenix doesn't get ice like Tulsa, (but I'll bet you knew that), but it does get extreme heat for months at a time, much worse than what we get in the summer, and it has a lot more traffic. I remember the bottoms of my feet burning from the heat of a sidewalk when I was there one summer. I'd never felt anything like it, and yes I had shoes and socks on, no flip flops or bare feet.

It seems the rubber is supposed to help the road flex more, and not be as liable to cracking and potholes, which is why I thought it might be nice here.

[tulsa1603]

I think the newly replaced BA from 15th street to Utica is pretty nice!

My brother was in town from Houston two weeks ago.  He said "I keep reading in the comments on TulsaWorld.com how rough and awful the roads are here, but I'm really having a hard time finding anything bad...."  I had to agree.  Especially south of 51st.  Seems like Yale and Lewis are bad...  And Boston at 18th.  And a few neighborhood streets in older parts of town, but by and large, I have never understood what all the complaining was about.   

[Hoss]

I think the newly replaced BA from 15th street to Utica is pretty nice!

My brother was in town from Houston two weeks ago.  He said "I keep reading in the comments on TulsaWorld.com how rough and awful the roads are here, but I'm really having a hard time finding anything bad...."  I had to agree.  Especially south of 51st.  Seems like Yale and Lewis are bad...  And Boston at 18th.  And a few neighborhood streets in older parts of town, but by and large, I have never understood what all the complaining was about.   

That's because he lives in Houston.  I did also.  He must be desensitized; Houston's roads are nearly as bad as Tulsa's are.  At least they were when I lived there.

[cannon_fodder]

FWIW:

The 2 things that destroy roads are water and temperature changes.

Tulsa has it very bad on the water front.  While being consistently wet is bad for roads, it is even worse to be very wet, and very dry in alternating cycles.  It causes the substrate to swell and contract putting strain on the roads (we've all heard the ads for cracking foundations).  So we soak it real good int he spring and force the roadbed to swell, then dry it out and bake it in the summer to sink it back down.   This is made worse by our alternating soil (limited top soil, sandy substrate, water barrier clay). Concrete doesn't like to be bent like that over and over . . .

And temperature swings!  What was it on Sunday?  85?  And what was it Tuesday morning, 20?  That actively swells and contracts the road itself.  You couldn't do worse to open up cracks and then work out chunks of concrete if you tried.   

Then, just for fun, we put the two together.  In the winter we often freeze and though every day.  Water into the crack, freeze and expand,  though and go deeper, freeze and expand.  Nice. Up North it freezes, and generally stays frozen.  Much South and it rarely freezes on/in the roads.  We hit that happy medium where it freezes and thaws all the time.

And in the summer it isn't much better.  After a summer rain it soaks into the road surface, into cracks, and pockets in/under the road.  Then the sun bakes back down and evaporates the water in short order (how fast does a driveway dry off after a summer rain?).  The water travels through the road, and vapor comes back up from the road.   Not as bad as the freezing cycles, but not good.

While not an excuse, Tulsa is in a very bad place for road maintenance.  There is probably ways to combat this to minimize the issues, but we will have more expensive maintenance just by virtue of our location. 

[dbacks fan]

No, Phoenix doesn't get ice like Tulsa, (but I'll bet you knew that), but it does get extreme heat for months at a time, much worse than what we get in the summer, and it has a lot more traffic. I remember the bottoms of my feet burning from the heat of a sidewalk when I was there one summer. I'd never felt anything like it, and yes I had shoes and socks on, no flip flops or bare feet.

It seems the rubber is supposed to help the road flex more, and not be as liable to cracking and potholes, which is why I thought it might be nice here.

The "rubberized" asphalt is a two fold thing. It was mainly installed on the freeways as a sound deadener because the material is porous so it soaks up the sound instead of reflecting it, and since it is porous it tends to drain the water away when it does rain. I don't think it would work in areas that have more rain and cold.

[sauerkraut]

Those road reflectors can only be used in mild sunny climates I believe because snow plows can damage them or rip them up from the pavement. I'm not sure but The ruberized road surface may not work in cold cities like Tulsa because water can seep into into porous drain holes of the stuff and then freeze and crack the rubberized surface. The regular thaw & freeze cycles are what cause pot holes  in the roads, I don't see how that new ruberized stuff can prevent that. Rubber gets hard and brittle when it's cold and frozen water inside it expanding likely will crack it. Phoenix has a mild climate and they don't have to worry about freezing.

[nathanm]

Those road reflectors can only be used in mild sunny climates I believe because snow plows can damage them or rip them up from the pavement.

That's why a properly installed cat's eye is enclosed in a steel frame and placed in a slot cut into the road, then glued down.