new road construction Chattanooga TN=very dangerous for 2 wheelers

[john grinsel]

I know I am not supposed to be critical of the south, but here goes-----yesterday morning, Chatanooga, on scooter, new constrution MLK blvd to Hwy 27 S, to Hy 24, My case to 75 N-----Freeway, entrance, curved---has deep rain grooves=real thrill for 2 wheeler, outright dangerous----I assume this project has state ,Federal   and local funds.   Plan should have been reviewed at every level (shouldn't roads be built/designed to a standard?)  I am retired DOD  Safety  Manager/Director who reviewed plans for roads/construction----one time inspector and final approver for new Ammo Storage in Germany.  Standards had to be maintained.    Wonder who signed off final on this road?? 

As bike rider, one must constantly be on alert here unless you like going down.   New Construction should not have built in hazards.  ...using my tax money!

[Iahawk]

that's a great point, John. Are 2 wheeled vehicles taken into consideration when designing new roads? they sure should be.

[Kansas kymco]

You should know the people to contact with your concerns. Agreed grooved payment is a hazard to motorcyclist.  A problem wherever you live not exclusive to the South.

[CROSSBOLT]

TDOT has some strange ideas from time to time....

[Neil955i]

Always thought your ”tar snakes” which I encountered on California’s canyon roads were definitely biker-unfriendly! I bet they’re fun in the wet - not that you get much of that in CA...

To reassure you that road design stupidity is not exclusive to the US, we get all sorts of two-wheeler challenges over in the UK!  My particular bugbear is summer road resurfacing where nice twisty and less travelled A roads are dressed with tar and then overlaid with stone chippings. A pain in a car, but potentially lethal on a scooter!  In the good old days the DoT would roller them to set the chips into the tar, now to save time & money they let the traffic bed them in. Progress?


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[john grinsel]

I believe in Norway, if tar snake puts you down, government is responsible, and can pay you.   

I have experience in Wisconsin, with traffic lights that do not change for bikes---called governor's office, talked to useless idiot---I then called local state highway dept.-----and they made adjustments.   Too bad new construction was not done right in the first----at that time current gov. Tommy Thompson could actually ride---I went on one of his Harley rides with my Helix----kept up well in all the noise.

[Kansas kymco]

I believe in Norway, if tar snake puts you down, government is responsible, and can pay you.   

I have experience in Wisconsin, with traffic lights that do not change for bikes---called governor's office, talked to useless idiot---I then called local state highway dept.-----and they made adjustments.   Too bad new construction was not done right in the first----at that time current gov. Tommy Thompson could actually ride---I went on one of his Harley rides with my Helix----kept up well in all the noise.

Very common in KS for traffic lights not to change for bikes. They passed a law that you can proceed when safe to do so. Before I just did the right turn on red then turned left  the next block over.  Since I live in a small town most of the routes I take simply have a stop sign at most major intersections with a few exceptions.

[Kansas kymco]

Always thought your ”tar snakes” which I encountered on California’s canyon roads were definitely biker-unfriendly! I bet they’re fun in the wet - not that you get much of that in CA...

To reassure you that road design stupidity is not exclusive to the US, we get all sorts of two-wheeler challenges over in the UK!  My particular bugbear is summer road resurfacing where nice twisty and less travelled A roads are dressed with tar and then overlaid with stone chippings. A pain in a car, but potentially lethal on a scooter!  In the good old days the DoT would roller them to set the chips into the tar, now to save time & money they let the traffic bed them in. Progress?


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Neil common practice to chip seal the roads here the same way, another issue when recently done is getting tar on your scooter/vehicle.  Recently they have started to put warning signs out for motorcycles.

[Iahawk]

yes, those 'chip seal' roads are awful..and dangerous.  A few of my favorite roads are this type...normally great riding surface until they dump tar and small gravel on there...I've slowed and turned around to get off those a number of times.

[TBR125]

I know I am not supposed to be critical of the south, but here goes-----yesterday morning, Chatanooga, on scooter, new constrution MLK blvd to Hwy 27 S, to Hy 24, My case to 75 N-----Freeway, entrance, curved---has deep rain grooves=real thrill for 2 wheeler, outright dangerous----I assume this project has state ,Federal   and local funds.   Plan should have been reviewed at every level (shouldn't roads be built/designed to a standard?)  I am retired DOD  Safety  Manager/Director who reviewed plans for roads/construction----one time inspector and final approver for new Ammo Storage in Germany.  Standards had to be maintained.    Wonder who signed off final on this road?? 

As bike rider, one must constantly be on alert here unless you like going down.   New Construction should not have built in hazards.  ...using my tax money!

I know I'm a bit late on this one but welcome to the infamous ever under construct 24 split. I used to live off the first exit on 24 and they've been working on it for almost 5 years now. It originally was 1 lane merging onto 24 west and the traffic would stop for miles every afternoon. When its finished it should be quite an improvement. The split was flat until they built the massive embankments for the new overpasses. Whenever the cities or counties repave the roads here they cut those aforementioned grooves parallel to the road in the old paving and often they have a weave to them. I've learned to ride them really loosely and let the bike move as it wants. Still a major hazard.