Daily conversation: What is the worst possible answer?

[kphoger]

10/10/25

Why are toll roads more common in the Midwest and Northeast than in the rest of the country?

There are more people there.  Therefore, more people drive on the roads.  Therefore, they deteriorate faster.  Therefore, they have to be repaired more frequently.  Therefore, more money is required for their maintenance.  Therefore, an additional funding source is more necessary.

Also, there is no fuel tax in Northeastern or Midwestern states.

[xonhulu]

10/10/25

Why are toll roads more common in the Midwest and Northeast than in the rest of the country?

No road is an island, entire unto itself. Each is a piece of the highway network, a part of the main

Therefore, ask not for whom the road tolls: it tolls for thee.

- John Donne (Paying Tolls), 1623

[kphoger]

No road is an island, entire unto itself.
Each is a piece of the highway network,
a part of the main
Therefore, ask not for whom the road tolls:
it tolls for thee,
but half for three.

Fixed.  You forgot the last line, which applies to HOV lanes.

[xonhulu]

No road is an island, entire unto itself.
Each is a piece of the highway network,
a part of the main
Therefore, ask not for whom the road tolls:
it tolls for thee,
but half for three.

Fixed.  You forgot the last line, which applies to HOV lanes.

I'll have to take your word for it. I'm from Oregon, we don't do any of those toll road or HOT lanes shenanigans (yet).

[TheCatalyst31]

10/10/25

Why are toll roads more common in the Midwest and Northeast than in the rest of the country?

It helps keep out the cheapskates from other parts of the country. Nobody wants to hear them complain about how expensive the tourist stuff in New York and Chicago is.

[Roadgeekteen]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

[Big John]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

It was put in an awkward position.

[Max Rockatansky]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

Haven't you heard?  69ing is out and 6-7ing is in.

[Sapphuby]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

The whole project was cancer from the beginning.

[TheCatalyst31]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

Every time a major section of it is complete, Texas adds a new branch to it.

[vdeane]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

At some point, politicians realized that annoying roadgeeks was more fun than actually finishing projects.

[PNWRoadgeek]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

Because it's not called I-67 

[NE2]

10/12/25

Why hasn't I-69 been completed yet?

Nice routes finish last.

[freebrickproductions]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

[GaryV]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

By Jello consumption in the 1950's

[Max Rockatansky]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

I use a scientific calculus which is largely based how many white people in a geographic region say "geez-o-Pete" regularly.

[formulanone]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

Everywhere left of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina to the Ural Mountain range. This was established in 1784 by surveyors Johnny V. Fuquay and Giuseppe Varina working in tandem to mark arbitrary borders for future cellphone coverage.

[PColumbus73]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

Anything within a 300-mile radius of Chicago

[kurumi]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

Anywhere you pronounce "wash" with an R

[Max Rockatansky]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

Anywhere you pronounce "wash" with an R

That IS a bad answer.  I always thought that was a Baltimore area thing as my grandpa always said it like that.

[Roadgeekteen]

It's the area directly to the west of the middle east (mid east). Yes, Greece is Midwest.

[vdeane]

It's the area directly to the west of the middle east (mid east). Yes, Greece is Midwest.

So... putting the boundary near the Genesee River? 

[formulanone]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

Anywhere you pronounce "wash" with an R

That IS a bad answer.  I always thought that was a Baltimore area thing as my grandpa always said it like that.

Yours too? Though he had some relatives that emigrated to Chicago a generation or two before.

[Max Rockatansky]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

Anywhere you pronounce "wash" with an R

That IS a bad answer.  I always thought that was a Baltimore area thing as my grandpa always said it like that.

Yours too? Though he had some relatives that emigrated to Chicago a generation or two before.

Yes, my grandpa made it far up the ladder at the Chevrolet division during the heyday of GM.  That eventually got him relocated to Michigan.  My Dad was born in Baltimore but was mostly raised in Detroit. 

[Sapphuby]

10-13-25

How do you define the Midwest?

It depends on just how snowy your winter is and just how willing you are to drive on snow packed gravel.