07-07-2007, 11:31 AM
I guess having worked in project management, the way I see things run by VDOT supervisors is really chaotic and unorganized, and there is little follow through on the quality control of their projects.
Road patching projects are almost an afterthought, I see fixed potholes whose top coats are never blended with the road and are left to rot away. On some parts of route 7 for instance, heading over the mountain towards Mt. Weather, it's almost like driving on fucking cobblestones. Are those patches going to last? Hell no, they're going to get ripped up at the edges because they're not blended into the road surface.
I understand getting construction workers to work at night is more expensive, but shutting down multiple lanes of 28 during rush hour is absolutely unbelievable. My dad ranted about this for about an hour the other night at dinner. Also, shutting down 2 lanes of Rt. 50 near 28 during morning rush just to fix a shoulder is also a complete clusterfuck. All of the stoplights on that road are bad enough at slowing down traffic.
First and foremost though was the huge oversight during our big March snowstorm this year in the entire Rt. 50 / Rt. 15 area. There is a VDOT headquarters right there on 50 past Gum Springs and that entire road was not salted nor scraped 3 hours after it had started pouring down snow. It wasn't until Rt. 7 that the roads were as clear as day. It's almost like..... you could see where the line of supervision incompetance was drawn through the county.
Quicker, more efficiently run construction projects = less project costs... it doesn't take a genius to see that. VDOT needs to focus on the people who are running the show and getting them trained to manage budgets, people, and time better. It doesn't help their case much either when you drive across the border to MD or NC and the roads are instantly a thousand times smoother and the road work is more sorted out. I look forward to driving down to Charlotte on Tuesday and cruising on the smooth, 70mph limit highways =)
Disclaimer: This is all just for a small part of Northern VA. I know this shit gets even worse the further north and west you go.
Road patching projects are almost an afterthought, I see fixed potholes whose top coats are never blended with the road and are left to rot away. On some parts of route 7 for instance, heading over the mountain towards Mt. Weather, it's almost like driving on fucking cobblestones. Are those patches going to last? Hell no, they're going to get ripped up at the edges because they're not blended into the road surface.
I understand getting construction workers to work at night is more expensive, but shutting down multiple lanes of 28 during rush hour is absolutely unbelievable. My dad ranted about this for about an hour the other night at dinner. Also, shutting down 2 lanes of Rt. 50 near 28 during morning rush just to fix a shoulder is also a complete clusterfuck. All of the stoplights on that road are bad enough at slowing down traffic.
First and foremost though was the huge oversight during our big March snowstorm this year in the entire Rt. 50 / Rt. 15 area. There is a VDOT headquarters right there on 50 past Gum Springs and that entire road was not salted nor scraped 3 hours after it had started pouring down snow. It wasn't until Rt. 7 that the roads were as clear as day. It's almost like..... you could see where the line of supervision incompetance was drawn through the county.
Quicker, more efficiently run construction projects = less project costs... it doesn't take a genius to see that. VDOT needs to focus on the people who are running the show and getting them trained to manage budgets, people, and time better. It doesn't help their case much either when you drive across the border to MD or NC and the roads are instantly a thousand times smoother and the road work is more sorted out. I look forward to driving down to Charlotte on Tuesday and cruising on the smooth, 70mph limit highways =)
Disclaimer: This is all just for a small part of Northern VA. I know this shit gets even worse the further north and west you go.
Posting in the banalist of threads since 2004
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks