Recent posts

#1

General Highway Talk / Re: Excluding states that bord...

Last post by Scott5114 - Today at 02:56:43 AM

Texas is in the process of colonizing our area, especially given that the University of Texas has pretty high admission standards as well as price, so the University of Arkansas has almost as many students from Texas as from Arkansas given that they get in state tuition as we're neighborly that way.  So we see tons from Texas, dwarfing all of the other states listed above combined.  And I-49 up here has really crappy drivers as a result!

s/Arkansas/Oklahoma/g and s/49/35/ and you've described Norman to a tee. (Although I don't think Texans get in-state tuition in Oklahoma, not that it seems to matter much.)

#2

Off-Topic / Re: Most irritating emoji

Last post by Road Hog - Today at 02:27:11 AM

💩

#3

Off-Topic / Re: Audiobook or Old Time Radi...

Last post by Road Hog - Today at 02:22:47 AM

KMOX used to play old-timey radio shows on the weekends from the 1930s-1950s and I enjoyed them very much.

#4

Off-Topic / Re: Oddities that defy convent...

Last post by Road Hog - Today at 02:03:19 AM

The fastest-growing city in the nation is ...

https://www.celina-tx.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=742

Sounds awesome until you realize there aren't much more than a McDonald's. a Sonic and a Taco Bell for 43,000 people (likely 50K by now).

#5

Northeast / Re: Interstate 81 in Syracuse

Last post by Rothman - Today at 12:16:48 AM

^^^ you must get paid to be a cheerleader for this project.

The other poster said the most expensive *urban road* project ever. Reading is key. If it isn't it sure it close. How many billions are being spent to construct a surface boulevard? I suppose you could count the Alaskan Way Viaduct removal.

And if you think it's just about surface boulevards at this late point after all our discussions on this project (contracts 1 and 2 were Interstate interchange reconfigurations), you're just being a troll...The alternative is a stubborn ignoramus, but I give you more credit than that.

#6

Northeast / Re: Interstate 81 in Syracuse

Last post by Plutonic Panda - Today at 12:14:12 AM

^^^ you must get paid to be a cheerleader for this project.

The other poster said the most expensive *urban road* project ever. Reading is key. If it isn't it sure it close. How many billions are being spent to construct a surface boulevard? I suppose you could count the Alaskan Way Viaduct removal.

#7

Pacific Southwest / Re: California

Last post by Max Rockatansky - Today at 12:10:38 AM

Problem is that this stuff is all based on "reduction of VMT" and not hurting the 2035 PHEV mandate.  The last thing this is about "equity in road use." 

End of the day, I suspect some sort of middle of the road will ultimately win out.  Given stuff like EVs not getting free pass for HOV lanes is on the table for 2025 there might be hope for a more balanced approach with generating road revenue from them than one might assume.

As an aside, that site was painful to read for a lot of reasons.

#8

Sports / Re: Athletics President re: ke...

Last post by Scott5114 - May 17, 2024, 11:53:03 PM

Did you go walk around it? It felt like the backrooms to me it is so huge and it's empty. I paid extra for a strip view and they had this extremely annoying shit on the windows that made it hard to see out of which is my favorite part of staying on the strip.

Oh, good, so it wasn't just me that got the backrooms vibe from it. I wandered around a bunch of empty hallways trying to find the bathroom, and there was a guy in a bunny suit in there. I just ascribed that to Vegas being Vegas, until I realized like 20 minutes later it was Easter Sunday. Even though I'm used to being around out-of-service slot machines, having as much of the floor down as they did was kind of spooky. It was probably the most bizarre casino experience I've ever had, which is saying something since I worked at Newcastle for six years.

I had a similar room experience as you did when I stayed at the Excalibur across the street last year—paid extra for a Strip view and we got put on the floor that had the decorative crenellations on it, which totally blocked the view for my wife (I'm tall enough I could at least see part of the Tropicana over the wall). If I were in the position of coming in from out of town again, I think my game plan might be to stay at one of the cheap off-Strip resorts like the Rio and then just Uber over to the Strip or Fremont.

#9

Northeast / Re: Interstate 81 in Syracuse

Last post by Rothman - May 17, 2024, 11:52:37 PM

It appears the third (of eight) contract for the Interstate 81 Viaduct Project has been awarded: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/salt-city-constructors-wins-third-contract-for-i-81-viaduct-project/ar-BB1mA22K?ocid=BingNewsSearch.

Eight contracts? That would have to be the most expensive urban road project ever!

*must not facepalm*

No, no it wouldn't.

The idea was to chop up the project into eight contracts to allow smaller firms to bid on them.  The project won't even come close to the most expensive projects this country has let overall.

And Contract 4's bid results are in:

https://www.dot.ny.gov/portal/pls/portal/MEXIS_APP.BC_CONST_RESULT_ADMIN.VIEWFILE?p_id=63890

#10

Mid-South / Re: Pelican Island Causeway hi...

Last post by Rothman - May 17, 2024, 11:48:10 PM

Then there is all these plane malfunctions, doors falling off and stuff. I was wondering is this stuff that is common and it's just now popular to talk about, so it's getting more attention, Or is it actually happening more and more. Same thing with train derailments after the one in ohio.

The plane malfunctions actually are happening with increased frequency—see John Oliver's Last Week Tonight segment on Boeing for a discussion of the management decisions that led to this.

It seems to be just Boeing and that is absolutely crazy how whistleblowers are suiciding themselves. I can't believe it isn't getting more attention.

https://youtu.be/bfA2p6Em7bI?si=QJD-c4ZabYV_6j6P