A few weeks ago my father got together back at my home in Virginia to build a new deck for the front of the house. Having constructed decks and homes his whole life, he was naturally taking the lead. I hauled wood, dug holes, and maintained an OSHA-worthy site - clear of any and all hazards - but mostly I just ran my mouth.
As we chatted, the topic of my last blog post came up. We started sharing stories about roads here and there, but by the end I had stepped away from my hyperbolic stance that roads, all American roads, were destitute unnavigable cobblestone trails. In comparison to most foreign roads, the roads in America are more than adequate. When I started thinking of the roads I’ve traveled in Mexico, Portugal, or Ireland, I started understanding just how expensive the American roadway is to maintain. In fact, when Elizabeth Dole tied the increased drinking age of 21 to federal transportation dollars, everyone signed up. American’s like smooth roads.
There were plenty of hours spent on my bike that were in a quasi-cruise control. On my ride south from Mt. Gretna, PA even the less traveled roads seemed well kept. They were so impressive that I was able to take my hands off the handlebars and shoot a few minutes of stable video with no fear that I’d end up in the ditch. Overall, the trip could have been much worse.
My father does opinions well and when it came to his favorite roads, he had one. “You know who has the best roads in the country, right?” I did. I waited. “Virginia,” he said.
On my trip to New Orleans I had stopped at my house in Stafford for a few nights in late September before heading on to Charlottesville, another 70 miles southwest. A few hours into my ride, along a route I’ve driven hundreds of times while transporting myself to and from my alma mater, the University of Virginia, I came to the familiar Route 15 James Madison Highway, a divided two lane road connecting the towns of Orange and Gordonsville (at one point the highway intersects with Zachary Taylor road - a sparsely traveled single lane road through central Virginia. Apparently, one year in the White House doesn’t entitle you to an important road.
I know the road well because I was pulled over for speeding a couple of times in college . The Virginia State Police lack anything resembling magnanimity, and camp out in the median anxious to loot passerby’s of their college drinking money. Alas, it is a beautiful road and I can look back and consider it nothing more than an inconvenient, overpriced and random toll system - the road is absolutely flawless.
As a cyclist, the Madison Highway appealed to me for several reasons. First, there were no worries of potholes - the pavement road well and was smooth start to finish. But also the cars that passed were typically going about the speed limit, and because the road is often straight and is on a generally downward grade, drivers have plenty of warning in avoiding contact with cyclist and can float into the additional lane of traffic well before they need to make a pass. In fact, the road was so flat and stress-free that I was able to eat the lunch my mother packed for me.
Ham and cheese on a potato roll, a bag of Combos, and an apple which I managed to eat while averaging 26 mph - I made it to Charlottesville ahead of schedule and with a full stomach.
Maybe the transportation funding is better in places like Virginia. The drivers are some of the worst in the country, so I can imagine that the tax base blames the quality of the roads for their tortuously slow commutes. On a typical December work day with light snow a commuter on Interstate 95 can expect to suffer through paralyzing traffic jams - the roads look like a movie set with millions of New Yorkers fleeing Manhattan in cars to avoid some apocalyptic. Despite this inability to drive the speed limit and perform simple driving tasks, many Virginians would probably blame other drivers or poor roads. They ask for better roads, and they shall receive. I’m just one vote, but as a cyclist, I definitely appreciated their tax dollar.
All the talk of good roads with my father, naturally led to the other question: worst state roads. The first disclaimer is that I haven’t traveled to Hawaii or Alaska so they are out of consideration for the worst. Also, I’ve been very unfortunate to have missed out on the roads of Oregon, Washington and Maine. With those exceptions I’ve seen ‘em all and been pulled over for speeding in seven; Minnesota, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York. The bike was a great idea, right? None of these states or the 44 other can really compare to what my family encountered on a cross country road trip from California to Virginia in 1993 - Arkansas.
It’d be hard to elaborate on the specifics of what was wrong with the state’s roads. I don’t have current knowledge of the situation, But in 1993 I was in the front seat everyday for that drive across the country and my lasting impression from Arkansas wasn’t positive. Slick Willy had just left the Governor’s mansion for DC. Maybe road service halted in his absence? It’s more likely that the state was suffering depressed economic times and was unable to provide their drivers adequate services.
American roads aren’t all that bad - but my recognition of their problems just comes from a mentality that remembers the losses more than the wins, and the Arkansas, more than the Virginia’s. America has plenty of great roads - get on your bike and go check ‘em out for yourself.
