I-80 Is A Bucking Bronco

[JohnK-ESC]

I just drove a Ford F650 moving truck pulling a car carrier and car from Downers Grove IL to Ft Collins CO mostly on 1-80. While there are some nice smooth stretches along the way there are enough long stretches of very rough roadway to disqualify it as a route on which I would ever choose to tow any travel trailer. Some of the rough stretches were so rough I had to stop, check and re-secure the car carrier hold down straps at least 5 times.

According to Google maps, alternate non interstate highway routing is the same number of driving miles but time enroute is 3 hours longer. My guess is that besides driving through small towns with traffic lights etc, the extra time also is a freeway vs two lane road speed limit related issue which is irrelevant to me whether towing car carriers or travel trailers. I don’t tow anything at normal interstate freeway speed limits.

One drawback to the two lane option with the very long rig I just towed would be a lack of large truck stops on which to maneuver into and out of a gas pump lane. This is not so much an issue for towing our 21C, and the smaller roads are much more interesting. Towing our Escape we already avoid freeways as much as possible.

John

 

[CharlesinGA]

I drove I-80 Eastbound in Nebraska from North Platte to Lincoln in 2022 and found it to be a very nice road.

Charles

 

[JohnK-ESC]

I drove I-80 Eastbound in Nebraska from North Platte to Lincoln in 2022 and found it to be a very nice road.

Charles

Tow your trailer all 900+ miles in the right llane of I-80 westbound from I-55 to I-25 then let us know how it was.

John

 

[Iowa Dave]

I quit towing across Illinois on 80 east or west bound a few years ago. And when I go to Fort Wayne I take highway 30 across Indiana. It’s slower but considerably more enjoyable and less stressful for me. There’s a lot of work being done in 80 in Iowa at this time and it’s not too bad. When I go west I generally take US 20 across Iowa and then hop up onto 90 somewhere in eastern South Dakota. There’s a good heart stopping broasted chicken drive in on the south end of Murdo but we usually just gas up somewhere around Mitchell and have a sandwich, run the dog, and blow by Wall drug, Rapid City etc. and gas at Sundance WY. I do not “shop” for the cheapest gas but I like to top off just before a we camp for the night so I don’t have to mess with it in the morning.
Iowa Dave

 

[claude6543]

I drove back this week from Moab to Ottawa Ontario, including very long stretches on the I-80. I can confirm that it sucks big time.

 

[HABBERDABBER]

One Winter drive

A few years back, we visited friends in Illinois in late January, watched the Super Bowl there and left, headed south to Florida. Below zero temps and we took Hwy's 47 and 30 West to hit I39. Both 47 and 30 were wildly frost heaved and crazy bumpy.

When I got to Florida, my 1996 16' Casita's refrigerator had detached from its mountings, base board trim boards were popped off, cabinet hardware busted, all manner of other minor damage seen.

I was luckily camped next to a retired Detroit tool & die maker and he offered to help putting things back together. He was a connoisseur of honey, and exploring the area for that Tupelo and other honeys. Great guy.

 

[Telescopist]

Tow your trailer all 900+ miles in the right llane of I-80 westbound from I-55 to I-25 then let us know how it was.

John

The roads may be better in Newfoundland.

 

[JohnK-ESC]

Yes I'll give the Trans Canada 1 from Port Aux Basques to Saint Johns and back in June the edge over I-80 in August any day.

John

 

[Telescopist]

Yes I'll give the Trans Canada 1 from Port Aux Basques to Saint Johns and back in June the edge over I-80 in August any day.

John

Tail end of our trip. Were on Trans Canada 1 halfway to Saint Johns. 'You know (I said to Donna) we haven't had any close calls with a Moose'. 'I know' said Donna. Just then a Moose ambled across the highway in front of us. Maybe 100 yards or so.

 

[Cascadian-ESC]

I would cheerfully pay another $.50 or more per gallon in federal fuel tax if it was entirely used to fix the interstates. Money well spent. Truckers would be happier too.

 

[Telescopist]

I would cheerfully pay another $.50 or more per gallon in federal fuel tax if it was entirely used to fix the interstates. Money well spent. Truckers would be happier too.

Me too. But it's money that may end up going down a rabbit hole. The gas tax in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania makes up 78% of the highway/bridge budget. Yet according to a study from Construction Coverage, "using the International Roughness Index, looked at data to put states into three categories for road conditions: ‘poor,’ ‘fair,’ and ‘good.’ Pennsylvania landed at number 15 in the poor category." PA's reputation for lousy roads in my memory goes back to when I was a child in the 50's. We lived in Upstate NY at the time. My father's work took him into PA frequently. He often griped about the roads in PA.

Pretty ironic that the first turnpike in the United States was the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike. This was a 62-mile paved toll road. It was the first road in the US of A to be covered with crushed stone. It was completed in 1794.