Why do road projects take years and years to complete? (Indianapolis: city hall, construction)

[Ed Ferris]

The streets have been torn up here in Richmond for at least three years now. Lanes closed, surface scraped off, bad patches, and, most infuriating, nobody doing any work most days. Why can 't we have crews working steadily and fixing what needs to be fixed in one or two weeks instead of years and years? I saw the same thing in Bedford around 2000.
The only explanation I've found is that the contractors get a lot of contracts at one time so they can prevent other contractors from getting the work.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Ed Ferris

The streets have been torn up here in Richmond for at least three years now. Lanes closed, surface scraped off, bad patches, and, most infuriating, nobody doing any work most days. Why can 't we have crews working steadily and fixing what needs to be fixed in one or two weeks instead of years and years? I saw the same thing in Bedford around 2000.
The only explanation I've found is that the contractors get a lot of contracts at one time so they can prevent other contractors from getting the work.

If you're paying for those bad roads thru your property taxes, you need to go down to the city council and raise holy heck with them. I think it's bordering on criminality that taxpayers are being forced to pay for crappy roads thru their hard-earned tax dollars. I find it insulting the city thinks the people of Richmond don't deserve any better.

[Ed Ferris]

I did go to City Hall and complain. The City Engineer said he has no authority over road projects; the Indiana DOT is in charge of them.
I will write to the Governor, or at least e-mail him.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Who ever it is, city or state, it's unacceptable. If you think of the taxpayers as "customers" of the city, the product the city is delivering is not what the taxpayers are paying for. Any customer would bring that product back and ask for - or demand - an exchange or a refund. The taxpayers should accept nothing less than total customer satisfaction. The money is too hard to come by to expect anything less.

When ever I go into a town and the roads are tore up, I always wonder why that city doesn't put more importance in keeping the streets in good condition and repair them in a reasonable and timely manner when they do fall into a state of disrepair. Just about everybody has a car or truck and they are not cheap to maintain. You would think maintaining streets and highways would always be the #1 priority because everybody wants to drive on safe, smooth roads.

[indy_317]

Indiana, like all other states, is involved in pay to play political games. The road construction lobby is very strong in Indiana. That is why there is a push to toll all interstates in the state. If they tolled all interstates, they are saying there would be so much money taken in, every single mile of interstate would be six lanes wide, with good barrier medians, etc. and they say there would even be more money for other non-interstate roads once this initial widening phase is complete. All this has to do with is rewarding those who helped pay for campaigns. Of course this extends to utility work, freight delivery, etc.. It doesn't surprise me that road work takes forever.

What surprises me is that Richmond isn't a growing area at all. They should be able to go in, resurface the roads, and that should be the end of it. Unless there are other issues I don't know about, there should be no reason to widen roads (and thus move utilities in addition) if an area isn't growing.

Indiana doesn't have the best record of dealing with roads. Sometimes things are OK, like when they re-did I-70 on the east side of Indianapolis, but other times we really screw up because we let politics get in the way (privatized road building for I-69 in Bloomington).

[Ed Ferris]

It has to be politics. Is it that the money is not there (or is diverted) to complete the job? I would think that each project would be funded before the contracts are awarded.
The roads are not being widened. The asphalt on top of bricks is being replaced with cast concrete slabs. How is getting a concrete slab so difficult that it takes two years?
Saw the City Engineer actually outside his office yesterday, marking the sidewalk in front of church for repair and replacement. True, the sidewalk there is cracked, but it's in better shape than most. Funny how he goes to that church.

[ColdAilment]

Here in South Bend/Mishawaka they ripped up and repaved over 8 miles of old US 20, Lincoln Highway, and they did it in under two months I'm fairly impressed.

[skeddy]

takes years to master leaning on a shovel for hours on end.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by indy_317

Indiana, like all other states, is involved in pay to play political games. The road construction lobby is very strong in Indiana. That is why there is a push to toll all interstates in the state. If they tolled all interstates, they are saying there would be so much money taken in, every single mile of interstate would be six lanes wide, with good barrier medians, etc. and they say there would even be more money for other non-interstate roads once this initial widening phase is complete. All this has to do with is rewarding those who helped pay for campaigns. Of course this extends to utility work, freight delivery, etc.. It doesn't surprise me that road work takes forever.

What surprises me is that Richmond isn't a growing area at all. They should be able to go in, resurface the roads, and that should be the end of it. Unless there are other issues I don't know about, there should be no reason to widen roads (and thus move utilities in addition) if an area isn't growing.

Indiana doesn't have the best record of dealing with roads. Sometimes things are OK, like when they re-did I-70 on the east side of Indianapolis, but other times we really screw up because we let politics get in the way (privatized road building for I-69 in Bloomington).

Agreed.

The I-69 project from Indy to Bloomington was in progress when I left three years ago. Best I can tell, it's still going at a snail's pace.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

Agreed.

The I-69 project from Indy to Bloomington was in progress when I left three years ago. Best I can tell, it's still going at a snail's pace.

They are just now at southern end of the Martinsville exits. They likely have possibly continued further north since it has been a couple weeks since I went through that area. I'll be heading down there later this month so I guess I'll see what it is like then.