Created Saturday 15 August 2020

See also: Transportation

The proposed 40-mile corridor will connect Detroit with Ann Arbor.

Igor Bonifacic - 14 August 2020

The state of Michigan wants to build the autonomous roadway of the future. Normally that in itself would be interesting enough, but there’s also the company it’s partnering with to make the project a reality. The state will work with a firm called Cavnue. Cavnue's parent company is Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP), which itself is a spinoff of Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs. If you've followed Engadget's coverage of the recently canceled Toronto Smart City project, you'll know all about Sidewalk Labs.

The partnership will see the company test out whether it's viable to build a 40-mile corridor that will connect downtown Detroit to Ann Arbor, with arteries to local destinations like the University of Michigan, the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Michigan Central Station.

https://www.engadget.com/cavnue-michigan-corridor-221520625.html

The findings were part of a multi-year study analyzing the impact of flooding and increased rainfall over the next three decades.

Mack DeGeurin - 19 November 2021

The U.S. recently passed a $1 trillion bipartisan spending bill aimed at improving and repairing the country’s decaying infrastructure, but a new report on flooding risks resulting from climate change warns even more investment might be needed.

Within the next 30 years, sea level rise and more intense downpours could put around 26% of U.S. roads underwater on the regular. Nearly 40,000 critical infrastructure facilities, including airports, fire stations, and hospitals, may be at risk of flooding as well.

Those are just a few of the dire findings within a recently released, multiyear analysis conducted last month by nonprofit group First Street Foundation. The report found there are already around 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) of U.S. roads at risk today, and another 200,000 miles (320,000 kilometers) will be put in the danger zone in the coming decades.

https://gizmodo.com/a-quarter-of-u-s-roads-could-be-regularly-flooded-in-3-1848090519

January 15th, 2024 - Devon Zuegel

Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks, cobblestones, and pavers are often much better options, because:

1. Asphalt degrades fast, so once you account for maintenance, it's more expensive it first appears Asphalt ages and falls apart quickly. It needs to be replaced after 10-15 years and starts looking pretty crummy well before then. It forms potholes and cracks quickly, especially in extreme climates. It's cheaper to install upfront, but over time, it is much more expensive.

   Meanwhile, brick and cobblestone roads can last 150 years or more – in fact the cobblestones still in use in Rome's Appian Way are over 2,000 years old! These materials don't need much maintenance, and if a single brick does crack, that individual piece can be replaced easily.

https://devonzuegel.com/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-asphalt