It's nothing new. Growing up we lived in Ohio for a while, and my grandparents were in the Johnstown area of western PA. Dad would always complain about driving there because the roads were so bad, and he wasn't wrong. Narrow, no shoulder, and horrible condition. You could always tell in the back when we crossed the state line because stuff would start getting bounced around in the car.

For what they charge for tolls on that dang turnpike, you'd think they could upkeep the road surface a little better. Last time I came through there with a trailer I think I paid more in tolls than I did in gas, and I was only getting 12 mpg !

As far as police funding in PA, you guys have one of the weirdest law enforcement systems I've encountered anywhere. I was in Pittsburgh last year for training, and one of the local guys tried explaining to me how things work. He said that particular county has something like 75 LE agencies, primarily township by township, but some townships contract to police adjoining townships, or sometimes the county or state do it. He told me that most guys starting out can't get full-time employment anywhere, and often have to work for 2 or 3 different small township agencies at once to make ends meet. He said at one point he was working for 3 different agencies and regularly would get scheduled back to back to back and work 36 hours straight. It's a wonder you guys can get anybody to agree to be cops there !

quote:

Originally posted by

"New England" included both New York and New Jersey.

flashguy

That can’t be right.

Not sure about New York but New Jersey has never been considered a part of New England.

ETA: NY/PA/NJ/DE were known as the Middle Colonies in Colonial times and became known as the Mid-Atlantic states

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
Found here: blog.cubitplanning.com dated 2019

Titled: Road miles by state: Sorted from the most to least -

Conn. 45916
Me. 46736
Mass. 77730
NH. 33391
Vt. 29273

Total for New England - 245,710

Total for Pa. - 251,708

Isn't New York part of New England? It's even called "New York" after York, England. When I was in school (a long time ago) "New England" included both New York and New Jersey.

flashguy

Strangely enough, NY is not considered part of New England, which always confused me too.

The road mileage tally did leave out Rhode Island though, which appears to have over 12,000 miles of roads. So New England does have slightly more miles than PA, but admittedly not by a lot.

Besides having the highest weight limit in the nation we have a geography problem here. Much of lower Michigan is built atop swampland and a high water table with clay based soils.

In the mid 1800’s when the Capitol was moved from Detroit to Lansing questions were asked why to the middle of a swamp? In fact to facilitate year round travel from Detroit the road today known as Grand River Avenue,old U.S.16 which was an old Indian trail was made into a plank road.

in one word penndot
Barry

quote:

Originally posted by Lt CHEG:

The road mileage tally did leave out Rhode Island though, which appears to have over 12,000 miles of roads. So New England does have slightly more miles than PA, but admittedly not by a lot.

Lt CHEG - You are correct that I missed listing Rhode Island (12,664 miles of roads) as one of the states, but when I did the math the number (for RI) was included in the New England totals. So the 245,710 for New England is still accurate. And the number for PA, 251,708 is still accurate as well.

Glad you caught that detail. Sorry Rhode Island, I really did include you…..

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Besides having the highest weight limit in the nation we have a geography problem here. Much of lower Michigan is built atop swampland and a high water table with clay based soils.

Yes but in Michigan look at all the axles the trucks spread the weight over. I don't think I've ever seen a tractor trailer combo, or dump truck, with over 6 axles, generally just 5, here in WV. Maybe because of all the tight corners.

To even suggest that New York is part of New England is fighting words to anyone who lives here even the people in Massachusetts, Rhode Island or Connecticut.

I think its to keep the people from NJ moving to Pennsylvania.

NJ roads are bad too. The road I live might as well be a dirt road.