You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[PepsiFree]

Did a quick search and it appears as though the roads are “the worst ever” around here every year between February and April and then they get filled and nobody complains about them anymore.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Definitely the worst ever. I've been meaning to post about it for a couple weeks but it seems like we are always complaining the roads. The pot holes right now as really deep too. I usually stay and drive in the same areas so I know where all the big holes are but I drove down to the deep south this weekend and that was a whole new experience. Deerfoot is awful and the ramp from east bound Glenmore on south bound Deerfoot is probably the second worst stretch of road in the city (the worst being West Campus Blvd between the Foothills Hospital and Children's Hospital.)

I have found Edmonton roads to be worse than Calgary when it comes to potholes and general condition but this year whether it be NW, NE, SW, SE, it feels like a lot of the roads are falling apart.

[Flacker]

Originally Posted by Francis's Hairpiece

The fact the I just got back from Mexico and the roads are in better shape there than in Calgary.

You might want to look into a little phenomenon called frost heave. It may help you determine why the paved roads are smoother in Mexico, as a general rule.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Did a quick search and it appears as though the roads are “the worst ever” around here every year between February and April and then they get filled and nobody complains about them anymore.

The city tries to patch up West Campus Blvd each year because it is such a ####ty surface and it gets worse every spring. I hope it is finally on their radar for a proper resurfacing this year.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Francis's Hairpiece

The fact the I just got back from Mexico and the roads are in better shape there than in Calgary.

While I normally agree, this is a Gear Grinder of mine as well.

Yes. Calgary Roads suck. They're atrociously maintained and I feel as though everyone in the Calgary Roads department should be given a blindfold and a cigarette and marched into the Town Square.

But my Gear Grinder is comparing Calgary roads to other places non ceteris paribus.

My dad used to do this all the time. He loved the roads in Vegas, the Highways in Florida, blah, blah, blah.

You know what all of those places dont have? A freezing, warming, freezing, warming climate.

What is busting up our roads? Moisture.

It seeps into cracks. Freezes, expands, melts, more moisture, freezes again...rinse and repeat.

If you look at places like Vegas, Florida or Mexico...they have a standard climate without this problem.

So while Calgary roads do, indeed, suck long and suck hard, and I agree with your Gear Grinder there, they cant be compared to places with temperate constant climates.

Now...find a roadworker, give him a shovel and make him get to work. I work on Ogden road and they filled a 2-foot-deep hole in the road with what appears to be s### and called it a day.

[Fuzz]

Does anyone 311 these like the city asks, or just complain?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Does anyone 311 these like the city asks, or just complain?

I purely complain, but I also agree that this happens every year. I don’t think they need more reports of the ramp from Glenmore Easy to 14th street though. It’s basically what Neil Armstrong and co. faced when they landed on the moon, so they’ll catch that.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

I purely complain, but I also agree that this happens every year. I don’t think they need more reports of the ramp from Glenmore Easy to 14th street though. It’s basically what Neil Armstrong and co. faced when they landed on the moon, so they’ll catch that.

And 24th street through Quarry Park looks like downtown Berlin circa 1945.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Locke

While I normally agree, this is a Gear Grinder of mine as well.

Yes. Calgary Roads suck. They're atrociously maintained and I feel as though everyone in the Calgary Roads department should be given a blindfold and a cigarette and marched into the Town Square.

But my Gear Grinder is comparing Calgary roads to other places non ceteris paribus.

I always use Edmonton as a measuring stick seeing it's similar size and weather and in my experience their roads are almost always worse. This year though it seems like the roads are worse than normal for Calgary. The hole pothole and frost heave thing is pretty normal but in addition to the various potholes, there's cracks, crumbling asphalt everywhere and a lot of the ramps are very rough. I attribute this to maybe some of the wide temperature swings we have had this winter and maybe all the salt brine they use today.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Does anyone 311 these like the city asks, or just complain?

Yep and they are generally pretty responsive so always a good thing to do if you can.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Locke

And 24th street through Quarry Park looks like downtown Berlin circa 1945.

That's just the filth and disrepair from Ogden spilling over

[Engine09]

Late Thu evening, southbound Crowchild at the entrance to the Glenmore exit/overpass. A car realized they wanted to go south into Lakeview and decided to stop, put it in reverse and start backing up. They were already a good 30' up the ramp.

One of the stupidest moves I've seen in a while.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

That's just the filth and disrepair from Ogden spilling over

Hey! I work there! I'll not tolerate disparaging remarks regarding Ogden Towne!

Do we need to throw hands?

I love working in this community. Never a dull day.

[Zary's-Mustache]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Does anyone 311 these like the city asks, or just complain?

Don't think they care. I complained about city owned sidewalks I walked on frequently during the winter that was always icey and had snow on them and took them a week to respond and when they came out all they did was throw a bunch of small rocks on the sidewalk and didn't bother shoveling.

I wonder if the city would be ok with me doing that instead of shoveling.

[fotze2]

I get more pissed at living in a neighborhood where 90% of the houses are infills so every street has reverse speed bumps every 5 feet from the new services put in. Probably by design to reduce road speed but I think developers/builders should have to come back a year later to fix their abortion.

[Wormius]

What’s a reverse speed bump? You gain speed?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Wormius

What’s a reverse speed bump? You gain speed?

A Ditch?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Locke

Do we need to throw hands?

yup

[Icantwhisper]

Originally Posted by Wormius

What’s a reverse speed bump? You gain speed?

You back up over it, duh!!!

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Locke

While I normally agree, this is a Gear Grinder of mine as well.

Yes. Calgary Roads suck. They're atrociously maintained and I feel as though everyone in the Calgary Roads department should be given a blindfold and a cigarette and marched into the Town Square.

But my Gear Grinder is comparing Calgary roads to other places non ceteris paribus.

My dad used to do this all the time. He loved the roads in Vegas, the Highways in Florida, blah, blah, blah.

You know what all of those places dont have? A freezing, warming, freezing, warming climate.

What is busting up our roads? Moisture.

It seeps into cracks. Freezes, expands, melts, more moisture, freezes again...rinse and repeat.

If you look at places like Vegas, Florida or Mexico...they have a standard climate without this problem.

So while Calgary roads do, indeed, suck long and suck hard, and I agree with your Gear Grinder there, they cant be compared to places with temperate constant climates.

Now...find a roadworker, give him a shovel and make him get to work. I work on Ogden road and they filled a 2-foot-deep hole in the road with what appears to be s### and called it a day.

In addition to that, the massive increase in the use of salt on the roads by the City over the past 10 years or so is certainly contributing to the problem. I've been driving on Calgary roads since the mid 80's and they are definitely getting worse in comparison, regardless of the frost heaves.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

In addition to that, the massive increase in the use of salt on the roads by the City over the past 10 years or so is certainly contributing to the problem. I've been driving on Calgary roads since the mid 80's and they are definitely getting worse in comparison, regardless of the frost heaves.

I'm not a specialist in this, but that seems like it would just accelerate melting which puts more moisture into the cracks and then on deep-freezes all that moisture, despite the salt, freezes up and expands and cracks.

Plus, in the meantime the salt is essentially liquid and eats away at the asphalt.

Nothing to do with roads, but I watched a documentary years ago about what the sea-salt in the air did to the concrete in Alcatraz and how after a while you could break the concrete with your bare hands.

I presume that a similar problem occurs when we salt the roads, it gets into the cracks and weakens the underlying asphalt.