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How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

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Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#241

Post by jaclaz »

oneplane wrote: post #8

I wonder what the numbers are like in west EU as a comparison.

The rule of thumb in Western EU (mind you it is only an order of magnitude and may vary) for a 10 meter wide road (think one way highway two lanes+emergency lane 2x3.75+2.50=10 or an extraurban road 2x3.50+2x1.50=10) is usually considered:

plain road (on terrain) € 10,000,000 x km

viaduct/bridges € 20,000,000 x km

tunnel € 30,000,000 x km

with a variation of up to -15% or -20% in countries where workmanship and materials are cheaper and + 15% or + 20% in the more expensive ones.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#242

Post by SirHound »

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.

"But it's not illegal in my country"

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#243

Post by Gwypaas »

peter303 wrote: post #240
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.

False equivalency with Europe where a lot of people skip cars in the metro regions because public transport actually works. For example in Stockholm 37.5%[0] of the people own cars while being the by far richest region in Sweden.

[0]: http://miljobarometern.stockholm.se/trafik/motorfordon/bilin...

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#244

Post by OrgNet »

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.

rent a bike wherever you plan on using it

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#245

Post by masonic »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #154
rahimnathwani wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"is the equivalent of the advice here to stay to the right" Yeah, but the advice in the California DMV handbook is to stay in the middle , not the right. The difference is that, in the UK, the middle lane is explicitly only for overtaking. If you're going the same speed as the cars in the left lane, you're not overtaking, so you shouldn't be in the middle lane. California's guidance is directly contrary to this.

In the US there is no priority with 3+ lanes. You can legally plod along in the left lane without passing anyone. The middle is a safe option to avoid conflicts on either side. For two lanes you are supposed to leave the left/high-speed lane for passing only.

  In the US there is no priority with 3+ lanes
There is no monolithic Nationwide vehicle code. Laws can vary state to state.

  You can legally plod along in the left lane without passing anyone.
Generally false. Definitely false in CA: Slower traffic keep right, notwithstanding speed limits.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#246

Post by adrianN »

varshithr wrote: post #235
habosa wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

And a lot more people die per mile.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#247

Post by beerandt »

ldoughty wrote: post #161
beerandt wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To get people to respect the passing lane, I propose: Left-most lane on controlled access highways should be rear car, by default, has the right-of-way.

If I'm passing at 5 over the limit, I'm still passing. I waited my turn. Not my fault I don't want to go 20+ over. I'll move back when the passed car is in my rear view. Oh, you really to ride my rear, and pay me on the right? Will Joe we have a problem because I'm happy merged into the right line and you're on my as, and now you're 3 feet from both me and the car were passing. That's what I got from this comment...…

It's not necessarily about who's turn it is, or what's "just". It's about driving rules that are crystal clear, that will end up maximizing traffic flow, clarifying r-o-w order, and minimizing time of conflict.

>Not my fault I don't want to go 20+ over.

No, but I think that people see it this way is part of the problem. It becomes a sort of moral game of chicken, with one side thinking one rule is more important, and vice versa. It shouldn't be debatable. Both sides should automatically know who has r-o-w without thinking, even if the rule is arbitrary. The entire system operates around this premise.

And because speed is always going to be a personal sliding scale (maybe 5 over is ok but 20 isn't), the simplest, most practical, consistent resolution (whether "fair" or not) is to yield the lane to the passer behind you.

Look at it this way: You wouldn't worry about momentary speed to pass someone on a two lane road, if you needed to. You'd focus on getting past and getting over before the oncoming traffic gets to you. It should be the same way on multi-lane highways, even if the traffic is overtaking instead of oncoming. That's why it's called the passing lane.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#248

Post by tonyedgecombe »

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…

* One cause for increased construction is the need for more capacity.*

Adding new capacity to shorten journey times is a fools errand. The new capacity soon fills up as longer and more commutes become acceptable.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#249

Post by lotsofpulp »

adrianN wrote: post #246
varshithr wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

And a lot more people die per mile.

It’s a trade off. You can’t neatly organize ox, a guy pulling a heavily loaded cart, an ox driven cart, a bicycle, a scooter, a motorcycle, a rickshaw, a car, and a heavily loaded truck which is probably overcapacity.

Re: How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?

#250

Post by 8draco8 »

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #92
justinator wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider doing multi-day trips from your front door during the weekends (bikepacking). I used to live in Denver and never understood why people would find the need to drive 10 miles to the nearest trails when you could just ride to them. Then I realized, once you're done with those initial 10 miles, you could link up routes that covered practically the entire rest of the state. Now I'm writing a guidebook on those ro…

>10 miles to the nearest trails when you could just ride to them. Because they are usually up in the hills so its a fairly large effort to get there and by the time you are there you have no energy left to do the trails unless there is a ski lift to get you to the top.

But if you are riding bike seriously 10 miles is nothing. It's literally 30-40 minutes ride. I am runner not biker and on many occasions 10 miles for me is just a morning run before work.
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