I-80, Donner Pass

[2oldman]

I drove through Donner Pass today (I-80) from Nevada into Cali. On the West side, westbound, the truck lane is rutted so bad I had trouble steering. It was difficult to keep a grip on the steering wheel. I had to move over a lane, it was that bad. If any road could use infrastructure spending, that would be it.

Coming down the pass I saw what up ahead looked like a disabled trailer, then on the shoulder I saw an older gentleman rolling a tire back to the trailer. I could see the trailer had a missing wheel and it appeared the other tire on the same side had blown. I guess he lost a wheel. Check those lugs!

Not a good day for this poor man. It was an airstream, maybe 30'

[starcraft69]

rightlaneonly wrote:

F-TROUP wrote:
In Calif the only thing that qualifies as infrastucture is the High Speed Rail.

You forgot the Twin Tunnels :M

Dont forget Climate Change

[Durb]

time2roll wrote:

snowpeke wrote:
The road gets it's ruts from trucks with chains. If there is one quarter inch of snow on the very top of Donner summit they make everybody chain up and run for miles of bare pavement so they can go through that quarter inch of snow.

I often think commercial trucks could just be turned around and wait it out or go south.

I went over that pass in a blizzard (not towing) that was severe enough that I thought the road should be closed. Visibility was so bad that that I rode the tail lights of a big rig all the way to Auburn. I was thankful that trucker was there and knew what he was doing.

[time2roll]

snowpeke wrote:
The road gets it's ruts from trucks with chains. If there is one quarter inch of snow on the very top of Donner summit they make everybody chain up and run for miles of bare pavement so they can go through that quarter inch of snow.

I often think commercial trucks could just be turned around and wait it out or go south.

[Blazing_Zippers]

I spent several years in Truckee and had the pleasure of watching people turn into crazed fools when the snow fell. Let's see, the story usually went like this, "but I was in 4WD." A funny was when three LA LEO's rolled over on West River St. in 10 frozen degrees and claimed "I was in 4WD" - the CHP handed the driver a driving award. For a small town, the fire/rescue dept. is large and has plenty of opportunities to ply their trade in winter.

[snowpeke]

The road gets it's ruts from trucks with chains. If there is one quarter inch of snow on the very top of Donner summit they make everybody chain up and run for miles of bare pavement so they can go through that quarter inch of snow.

[Litch]

I understand folks displeasure with I80 through Truckee and over Donner Summit, but spend a winter here and maybe you would understand. We get heavy wet snow and the truck traffic is heavy on a daily basis with warehouses in the Reno area and the shipping port in Oakland moving a ton of freight. Tire chains take a toll on our roads, simple as that.
We call the summer up here “orange cone season”, they are constantly working on our roads because of winter conditions.

[F-TROUP]

Trust me you can't find a dam that's been improved or built in the last 5 year drought since the people voted in a water bond and now here come another water bond.

[Rocky2]

Without trying to start a flame war, we should also remember that California is about 900 miles long and we may not see all the projects going on. I used to say the I5 was almost as bad as I80 but it has improved a lot. Seems like dam rebuilding is infrastructure also.

[paulj]

The projects to restore access to Big Sur have gotten a bit of press as well. I suppose all the other highway projects fly under the weather unless you are inconvenienced by the lane closures (like on Hwy 65 south of 198?)

District 6, which incluces Tulare Cty (Visalia) only has 2000 miles of state maintained highways

http://www.dot.ca.gov/d6/profile.html

[rightlaneonly]

F-TROUP wrote:
In Calif the only thing that qualifies as infrastucture is the High Speed Rail.

You forgot the Twin Tunnels :M

[2oldman]

I think I may have passed up someone else last week with a flat.

[F-TROUP]

In Calif the only thing that qualifies as infrastucture is the High Speed Rail.

[Hammerboy]

SidecarFlip wrote:
Road courtesy is dead Old Biscuit in case you haven't noticed. Last year I had a flat on the side of I94 and people didn't even bother to move over enough to allow me to change it without fear of getting killed (Flat on the drivers side).

People are so courteous today... right.

Heck, I had to change a tire on my truck the other day in the parking lot (took me about 1/2 hr:M) of a used car lot that had a garage, they were open and I was literally in front of the building so I know they could see me. Not that I needed help but thought it was a little odd that no one even came out to even ask if I needed any. Then again I was in a pissy mood so it probably was good they didn't offer.:B

Dan

[paulj]

Trucks using chains over the pass could be wearing the pavement faster than normal. On Google streetview I'm seeing concrete without an asphalt overlay.

I believe there have been major projects along this highway, but in the best of times projects are done in 10 mile sections at a time, and with one or two lane closures. Even if there was money, traffic and limited space prevents a complete replacement of pavement. Also bridge maintenance has priority over road surface rehabilitation.

I80 bridge work in Nevada Cty

east bound truck lane

I80 CA65 interchange work