Worst Stretch of I-10!!

[pappy19]

My new vote is all Louisiana, from Lafayette to Slidell.....unbelievable. First time my TV's on the bed made it to the floor. Never had such a "porpoise" in all my travels. I saw a Chevy towing a 5th wheel slow down to 30, but I could run at 40-50 without too much trouble. Still, am on my way to Tallahassee from San Antonio and I will go cross country
before I go on I-10 through Louisiana again.

Pap

[Bob Thompson]

This isn't much consequence, but....it used to be much worse!

[soldiermedic]

I don't know. The stretch from Ozona to El Paso, TX is still pretty bad.

Steve

[Bob Thompson]

About 5 years ago, they rebuilt the last 60 miles or so of I-10 going west into El Paso. It's all nice new concrete!

[Bob Thompson]

I hate to say it, but there's no relief trying to go the local highways. Louisiana is famous for good food and bad roads.

[Jim Clark]

Slidell to the Mississippi Border was the worst at one time, that has been repaved. You can't build a stable road on a swamp.

Jim

[Protagonist]

The corridor from Lafayette through Baton Rouge and New Orleans to Slidell is home to maybe 80% of the population of Louisiana, and that stretch of I-10 sees more traffic that the rest of the state combined.

If you're not in a hurry, I suggest that you take US-90 from Lafayette to New Orleans, and only get on I-10 from New Orleans to Slidell to take advantage of the new bridge.

[slowmover]

Truck traffic volume on some roads is just too high. IH-10 east of Houston is one such place. IH-40 eastbound into Memphis another. Note that both have to deal with the Mississippi River. There are only a few crossings South to North on the IH System, and all are funnels for a great amount of traffic, private, plus cross-continent commercial. The southern ones have the further disadvantage of being used heavily in fall/winter/spring.

And the population of some of the southern U.S. states has risen dramatically since 1956.

Then, as we are becoming a backwards nation, the gasoline tax hasn't risen to account for increased costs in roads since 1992.

The IH system was underbuilt (quality), mistakenly allowed into cities (who feared the earlier "death by railroad bypass" of the 19th Century), and is now nearly permanently underfunded -- and damages in large part by "de-regulated trucking"; a form of subsidy devolving on the rest of us -- which wasn't envisioned at conception (truck volume, weight, length; privatized profit & socialized cost).

Etc, etc.

IOW, some of these roads will always be bad.

And, agreed, that IH-10 in LA is much better than it used to be. Same for IH-40 across AR into West Memphis.

.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Many parts of state 91 in Riverside county, in California, is a good place to mix up a milk shake, when towing.

In fact at certain speeds, even a very comfortable car gets bounced around as well.

Unfortunately, the normal highway speed of 60 to 70 MPH, creates the worst bouncing.

That's probably why so many people drive 80 to 85 on that freeway, and then gripe about the poor fuel economy.

WOW !!!

Andy

[JackDog]

We're leaving on our maiden voyage with our new 2013 Sport next week.

We live in Orange County and plan to go around downtown L/A (Interstate 5) due to the really bad roads. Since we'll be leaving at 4 am on a week day traffic shouldn't be a problem

But unfortunetely we can't avoid going over the Grapevine (Interstate 5) and into the Central Valley heading north to Yosemite via old Hwy 99.

Two lanes most of the way so we'll be stuck in the truck lane enjoying the moon craters and quick fix patches and grooves due to immense truck volumne.

Our current Govenor when in office the first time around in the 70's told the citizens of California we don't need to build new roads and since then the state has certainly not kept them repaired.

I remember a few years ago when we we're towing our Casita just north of Bakersfield we hit a pot hole so bad I watched as our trailer's left wheel caught about 6" of air!!!!

I guess we'll find out just how well built and rattle free an AS really is. I've learned to make sure everything inside the trailer is tied down and put away.

Jack Dog
in So Cal

[SteveH]

I haven't been on IH10 in Louisiana for quite a while with a big trailer, but the last time I did, I found it better to put the curb side tires on the asphalt shoulder, and let just the street side wheels run on the concrete road with all the bumps. Still wasn't smooth by any means, but the porpoising wasn't quite as bad. However, it does take concentration to hold a rig perfectly straight driving like that. At minimum, it's fatiguing.

[StreamRollin]

Know what you mean about roads LA. were just got back from our trip,TX,LA,Mississippi,OK,and NM. We left Wave Land Mississippi on the I-10 towards TX and the stricker post that the door latches to came off and we had now way of holding our door closed other than duct tape. We had to finish the rest of our vacation reaching in through the window and sliding the dead bolt over and then duct taping the window shut. Fun
Jim

[ZoominC6]

When you drive over our nation's Interstate system and hit stretches of highway like those described herein, do you ever pause to wonder if the bridges are in better or worse shape than the roadway?

[noreen&sal]

Originally Posted by ZoominC6

When you drive over our nation's Interstate system and hit stretches of highway like those described herein, do you ever pause to wonder if the bridges are in better or worse shape than the roadway?

I'm old enough to remember when the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was completed. I loved it. Now whenever I cross the east-bound span and glance over to the west bound side i'm actually scared to be on that bridge. Sal.

[Jack46]

As I remember it, the only part of I 10 in west Texas that was worthwhile was a stop in Van Horn for Mexican at Chuy's!!

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Jack46

As I remember it, the only part of I 10 in west Texas that was worthwhile was a stop in Van Horn for Mexican at Chuy's!!

Two questions…
1 - Is that a reflection more on I-10, or West Texas?
2 - Does an off-ramp in Van Horn count as a stretch of I-10?

For the second question, if off-ramps count, then the Breaux Bridge exit east of Lafayette counts as a good stretch, because there you can find the original Landry's Seafood Restaurant.