How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost? • Hacker News Board

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#231

Post by wldlyinaccurate » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 8:39 AM UTC

jamiek88 wrote: post #219

onion2k wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you do it on a reasonably clear road to get around someone hogging an overtaking lane, and the police see you, they're going to pull you over and give you a fixed penalty notice for careless driving though. I know this from experience.

Me too! M4 from London to Cardiff for the Ryder Cup. Had lived in Texas for years, was fresh off the plane and forgot it wasn't legal. No mercy shown! Jokes on them though I never paid the ticket and I'm never going to.

I always find it interesting when people brag about not paying fines — especially when the fine is issued in a foreign country.

To me it shows a lack of responsibility and a huge lack of respect for the local laws. I guess not everyone feels that way though.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#232

Post by Gibbon1 » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 8:43 AM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #228

pentae wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't let it bother you too much.. For every prick like that theres another prick like myself who is willing to smash up their front bumper with the rear of my vehicle to make a point. Interestingly, they always cede your right of way when you don't hesitate.

Ah, I recall as a young man when the guy in the shiny SUV would try to cut you off because they had a bigger vehicle. I felt like I could tell the moment when they realized that the repairs on their car would be more expensive than my entire car, and slink back into their lane.

There is no freedom like being a sketchy looking guy driving an old van.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#233

Post by slavik81 » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:03 AM UTC

samstave wrote: post #204

Stevvo wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In all of Europe, undertaking is illegal. When we come to the US, driving feels like you are in a third world country.

So many aspects about driving in the US are so terrible. The road conditions are pretty bad, and what i would like to understand are the gas taxes and other taxes which ostensibly go into road infra. We have high gas taxes and drive more miles than most countries on the planet - where is that money going? Some countries have high vehicle costs and their roads to me seem pristine and perfect by comparison. Specificall…

> We have high gas taxes and drive more miles than most countries on the planet - where is that money going?

A. You don't have high gas taxes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_tax#/media/File%3AFuel_ta...

B. You build a lot of roads.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#234

Post by clarry » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:08 AM UTC

viuphiet wrote: post #226

clarry wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The relevant number here is the cost to repave, not reconstruct, which is about $330,000-$350,000 per mile for a minor arterial road in a rural or urban area. Sounds a tad more expensive than it needs to be. Skimming search results for my country (.fi), I get numbers ranging from 30 000 to 50 000 eur per kilometer. I know murican roads are wider, but I don't think they're that much wider. And I don't think we're pa…

I think it's because everything is far more spread out in the US.

I don't understand why that would make a fixed length of road be so much more expensive, unless commute time for blue collar workers is compensated better than lawyers. Shipping a truckload of asphalt plus the required machinery can't be that expensive.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#235

Post by varshithr » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:10 AM UTC

habosa wrote: post #178

slowhand09 wrote: post #57

I think of this as I drive 30ish miles each way to work. 5 miles of surface roads, 19 miles of interstate (2 lanes each way), and 6 miles of surface (2 lanes each way). One cause for increased construction is the need for more capacity. My frequent lament is poor driving habits. We have regular instances of sub-optimal speeds in both lanes. A 65 mph limit and vehicles driving 55mph in both lanes, frequently with 1/4…

I recently drove around Spain for 2 weeks. My first significant international driving experience. I was shocked at how seriously they took the rule of only passing on the left. Every single car in the right line was driving slower than every single car in the left. It made driving so much better. The behavior of every car was basically predictable. I've never seen anyone pay much attention to their lane here.

There's no concept of lanes in India. Vehicle volume and variety are so huge that it kind of makes sense to have all the vehicles move tightly packed.

Comparatively, it's pretty chaotic here.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#236

Post by peter303 » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:10 AM UTC

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #20

I'm planning to live a car free life soon. I'll be moving in to the city so almost everything is within walking distance and just about everything is accessable via public transport. The only thing I haven't been able work out is how I will continue to go mtn biking since bikes aren't allowed on the bus. But I just can't justify the massive expense of owning a car and a car park for one activity.

I live in the state of Colorado where there are a thousand interesting and fun places to drive to. Ditto when I lived in California. Life is too short to be sanctimonious. P.S. I have a vehicle that gets almost 50 mpg, nearly triple the popular hulking SUVs here.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#237

Post by peter303 » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:15 AM UTC

ryanar wrote: post #2

I feel like I am missing something here, a mile of road in a rural area costs $1,500,000 to reconstruct? How do small towns afford to maintain their roads?? Perhaps there are many costs that don't inflate as the number of miles increases, like the equipment needed to break down and repave the roads?

In the US road costs are split among the three levels of government. Unfortunately road/fuel taxes at the federal and state level have not increased this century, resulting in a huge maintenance backlog.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#238

Post by peter303 » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:19 AM UTC

WhompingWindows wrote: post #25

Are expensive roads really needed? What if we see a gradual decline in roadway expenditures in the USA, transitioning our economy to involve less driving and more work from home, deliveries via drone/efficient vehicle, promote self-sufficiency, not to mention biking, walking, trains, etc...my point is maybe we won't need/use roads as much as we do now. One would hope so, but it seems our VMT is going up over time whi…

Quite the opposite. Not only are urban populations increasing, but the so-called economies of ride-sharing and same-day delivery increase the number of vehicles on the road significantly. NYC has done studies.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#239

Post by balac » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:21 AM UTC

arkh wrote: post #227

bartread wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what it's like in Spain but, in France, if you hog the outside lane you will get flashed and beeped at. French drivers do not tolerate lane hogs at all and generally manifest excellent lane discipline: I wish the UK were more like that.

> generally manifest excellent lane discipline Until you get to a road with more than 2x2 lanes. You have people half asleep in the middle lane going 10 km/h under the speed limit.

Yeah, it works because a lot of motorways in Spain have two lanes, and people like to drive fast, so lane hogging isn't tolerated.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#240

Post by peter303 » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 9:25 AM UTC

melling wrote: post #15

Major urbanized is incredibly expensive. Tens of millions... I read somewhere that China spends $30 million per mile of high-speed rail. 22,000 miles and counting. The US is going to bankrupt itself trying to modernize its aging infrastructure.

Despite the US leftist whining about the disappearing middle class, the US middle class is still a beacon to the world in actual prosperity. The Us can afford 80% to own vehicles to drive on its still decent roads, while its only 60% in Europe and 25% in much-touted China.