Bumpy Drives Through America’s Pines

It’s time to talk about the shitty roads

Dylan Hughes

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Photo by Jens Aber on Unsplash

We don’t drive down I-70 in Eastern Indiana anymore.

It’s the worst stretch of road in America. No doubt.

I travel for a living. I tour manage a band. I’ve driven through all but three of the continental states.

I’m from Indiana. And when I hit the road with the band and we’re going east, we do whatever we can to avoid I-70.

A sad reality, though, is that America’s roads in general are terrible. The good stretches are simply new. This brutal world of ours hasn’t put them through enough torture to crack just yet.

But they’ll crack eventually, as they all do. Then the state will send our tax money to some unknown company to fix it. And they’ll take as long as they can to get the job done.

Life runs in cycles and roads need repairs. But haven’t we thought about building things to last longer instead of just agreeing it will all need to be redone in 10 years or less?

Some theorize that states merely need more direction instead of blank checks from the federal government. The U.S. government levies a fuel tax of 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel. This money gets distributed to the states with the intention of repairing…

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Dylan Hughes

Three-time author writing on whatever interests me. Follow me on Instagram: chyaboidylan