Smooth Ride?

Have you noticed the condition of the roads and streets in SW Florida? More specifically, Naples, FL? Unless you are a part timer here, you don't know how good you have it. You need to spend a spring experiencing the patchwork roads in snow towns up north.

A visit to any town, and I could pick on lots of them, but my recent experience with Cedar Rapids, Iowa, makes me wonder what the cost is to the drivers and their cars.

I realize that poor CR, has just had the flood of the century, but lots of my experiences there, were well before the flood. The roads are worse than a patchwork quilt, with each patch, of varying sizes, at different levels. Obviously the road crews work very hard to fill in the holes made by the seemingly never ending winter, with its freeze/thaw cycle, and the rains of spring. But filling in a hole, so that it makes a speed bump seems like they are not accomplishing much.

When you have aluminum rims and you hit a pothole filled with rain water. and your tire goes flat because it bent your rim, you are happy to have them filled, no matter how bumpy.

The temperature in this area is very hot in the summertime. If you have ever noticed the effect that the heat has on things you leave outdoors, for an extended period, then you have an idea of why I am surprised that the roads are not in the same shape as Cedar Rapids. But apparently the heat is no match for the effect that freezing and thawing has on asphalt and concrete. So count your blessings.

You will certainly see a pothole covered here, and occasionally some cracks in the pavement, but the repair seems to be made by a former Zamboni driver, rather than a moto-cross track designer. It is actually flat to the road, and hardly noticeable.

I am certain we have some road issues in Naples, but not like the rest of the country. Type the following phrase into your 'web browser' "Fix our roads, " and you will find over 50,000 sites with that phrase. Reading the first few pages assures me that poor Cedar Rapids is not the only city with a pothole problem. While visiting CR recently, I noticed they were working on the roads, but they will never be what we have in Naples. We are lucky, compared to 50,000 other locations in the world. Maybe we should find something else that does need fixing.  I am sure I will hear something from you!