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How good are American roads?

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193 points chmaynard | 7 comments | 20 Nov 24 14:45 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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jameshart ◴[20 Nov 24 15:17 UTC] No.42194610[source]▶
This is a great analysis but it does focus exclusively on ‘roughness’, which is obviously important but isn’t the be-all-end-all of road quality.

One area I notice in particular that roads in the northeast US subjectively feel worse than Europe is in quality of road markings. Constant plow scraping and harsh salting seems to destroy markings.

I think it also shows up in the overall fit and finish of road infrastructure - edging and barriers, signage, lighting, maintenance of medians, how curbs and furniture contribute to junction legibility… and of course bridges.

One major reason is that European countries typically have national road agencies and consistent standards across the country (because, generally, smaller and less federal). US’s patchwork of federal, state and local road maintenance leads to vastly different budgets and department priorities across the network.

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1. eqvinox ◴[20 Nov 24 15:29 UTC] No.42194735[source]▶
I generally agree but need to point out Germany is organised like the US regarding road construction. Only Autobahnen and Bundesstraßen are under federal authority, with states and municipalities divvying up the rest.
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2. gattilorenz ◴[20 Nov 24 15:39 UTC] No.42194853[source]▶
Same in Italy (and probably most other EU countries); there's (about 25.000km of) roads that are maintained by a state agency; others are managed by a region, a province or a city. There's also an entirely different agency that needs to take care of highways.
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3. ajmurmann ◴[20 Nov 24 16:59 UTC] No.42195899[source]▶
But the regulations in Germany are largely federal, no?
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4. eqvinox ◴[20 Nov 24 17:17 UTC] No.42196110[source]▶
They might be (no idea), but if they are there's a significant amount of leeway allowed and visible between municipal roads in Bavaria and Brandenburg (richer vs. poorer states...)

Edit: no, at least part of them is state specific, e.g. Saxony road administration law: https://www.revosax.sachsen.de/vorschrift/4785-Saechsisches-...

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5. tialaramex ◴[20 Nov 24 17:18 UTC] No.42196125[source]▶
Yeah the UK is pretty similar. Devolution means Scotland and to a lesser extent Northern Ireland have some autonomy, but the big important roads are controlled by national government (albeit not necessarily the UK government) and your residential street is handled by much more local government, in my case the city where I live.

Actually Scotland bizarrely happens to have a road most similar to what most US folks would consider normal - a motorway (a multi-lane highway) named M8 going straight into the centre of a large city (Glasgow) on concrete stilts. This is not how the rest of the UK does it, but it so happens the M8 was conceived in that window of time where it was considered a good idea, some parts of my city were made in that era and I'm glad I don't live in them.

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6. ◴[20 Nov 24 17:38 UTC] No.42196323{3}[source]▶
7. ajmurmann ◴[20 Nov 24 18:00 UTC] No.42196525{3}[source]▶
Oh interesting! I'm honestly surprised because roads always seemed so much more consistent to me in Germany.

Also, "Bepflanzung des Straßenkörpers" might be the most German thing I've read in ages ;)