AUSTIN: Cow Creek

[WoodButcher]

Much of Cow Creek road (1431-1174) has recently been chip sealed. Lots of loose stuff on top. Only the southern and northern first mile is clear.

Oh, and they are about to re-route a section of it. They have graded the new section, but not paved it yet.

[Texason]

Cow Creek Road is still in bad shape as of today. Like Rusty said, lots of small loose gravel evenly peppered across the entire surface. There were also two or three places with a LOT of dirt washed over the road. I'm really angry that there were NO warning signs like "loose gravel" or even "construction ahead, next XX miles". Just a few orange barrels. Why don't county road crews have to follow the same rules as commercial contractors?

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by Texason

Cow Creek Road is still in bad shape as of today. Like Rusty said, lots of small loose gravel evenly peppered across the entire surface. There were also two or three places with a LOT of dirt washed over the road. I'm really angry that there were NO warning signs like "loose gravel" or even "construction ahead, next XX miles". Just a few orange barrels. Why don't county road crews have to follow the same rules as commercial contractors?

There are no county road crews, it is all private contractors. We use to have great roads here in Texas, now we have roads that cost 3x as much and are about as poorly made as they can be. This privatization is not working. Roads are not an option they are a necessity. I remember when even the dirt roads were graded with regularity, now your lucky if they grade them at all. Tar snakes, never saw one until the private companies took over. There are some old roads that have held up because they were engineered and built to a higher standard, the new standards leave us with mogols (those things skiers love)cracks and crumbling lanes within a few years. Welcome to the New Texas boys.

[mac wing]

Tar snakes (OVER filled cracks) slippery. Hold on !
Desiel smoke, tire dust .... cough, cough hack...hack
Tail gators..... git' off my **** ... fool !
Can we expect ENT or lung cancer, soon ???
Mac

[Vinny]

CC lost some of its character but it was great riding today. Lots of fall colors. Pavement is very nice now.

[bluedogok]

Originally Posted by DaveC

There are no county road crews, it is all private contractors. We use to have great roads here in Texas, now we have roads that cost 3x as much and are about as poorly made as they can be. This privatization is not working. Roads are not an option they are a necessity. I remember when even the dirt roads were graded with regularity, now your lucky if they grade them at all. Tar snakes, never saw one until the private companies took over. There are some old roads that have held up because they were engineered and built to a higher standard, the new standards leave us with mogols (those things skiers love)cracks and crumbling lanes within a few years. Welcome to the New Texas boys.

That way contractors are able to get more work out of the counties and TxDOT.

[Jeff S]

So, who's this ? http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.600129,-98.076842&spn=0.001396,0.00123&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=30.600025,-98.076816&panoid=Ta4Opj3d1mnjjcP_MTWt0Q&cbp=12,40.36,,0,22.48

[Texason]

Originally Posted by Jeff S

So, who's this ? Two up on Cow Creek...

Whoa, that is so cool. You can pan/zoom/move the embedded Google Streetview!

[ThomasM]

Rode Cow Creek today after lunch. It's in pretty good shape only a couple small loose chip areas left. No water to cross.
Will post up some video when I have time to edit it down to the highlights.