Desert Captain
Payson
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Joined: 02/19/2011
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Just returned from a 4 day trip from our home in Payson out to the Colorado River. We stayed in Lake Havasu City at the Havasu Falls RV park in anticipation of riding our bike up to the Bike Week festivities in Bullhead City. The direct route would have been to go north on 87 {aka the Beeline highway} up to Flagstaff and then west on I-40. Fortunately several folks from the Forum warned us off of that route due to the severe road conditions. We spoke with a number of folks who confirmed the carnage found on I-40 and I-17.
The Beeline north of Strawberry is shredded and the closer you get to Flagstaff the worse I-17 and I-40 get. The potholes are so bad and numerous that it makes avoiding them a daunting task to say the least. We elected total the longer ropute down 87 toPhoenix and took I-10 west to Quartzsite and the north on the 95 to and through Parker and on in to Lake Havasu.
Sadly, I-10 {both west and eastbound} was problematic often though usually for short stretches but 87 was fine from Payson to Phoenix. Sometimes I could move over to the left lane briefly to dodge the worst of the damaged pavement but given the heavy traffic always found I-10 this was far from a always workable solution. When we got homeI discovered that I had lost the wheel cover off of the passenger side dually, obviously swallowed by one of the many potholes that caught up with us.
Ironically when we rode the old original stretch of Route 66 between Topock and Oatman the road was in excellent shape with not a pothole to be found. ![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/doh.gif "doh") I hope repairs can be made soon but given the shear size of the problem I'm not optimistic. Be careful out there folks.
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obgraham
TriCites WA
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Joined: 08/30/2005
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What about Lake Mary Road up through HappyJack? That wasn't bad last time through there.
I-40 was sure a mess east of Kingman. And 93 Wickenburg to I-40 this past month is the worst I've seen it.
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Desert Captain
Payson
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Don't know for sure about Lake Mary Road but to get there we would have to have driven 87 north of Strawberry and it is reportedly trashed. Last winter really did a number on most of the roads especially the higher elevations though as noted I-10 was a PITA as well.
![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/eek.gif "eek")
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discovery4us
California
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Joined: 05/19/2013
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We used to look forward to getting out of California and onto the smoother roads of Arizona, Not the case now. I have driven down jeep trails that were smoother than I40 and we didn't see a single road crew trying to do any type of repair.
I sure hope those of you in Arizona are not paying high registration, road fees or gas taxes. Although looking at the fee scale on the fuel pumps it looks like you are.
Hard to take when you pay high fees, as we do in CA, only to see unmaintained roads.
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NamMedevac 70
Reno
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Joined: 11/09/2020
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Nevada major roads and highways are near excellent condition now for a long time. However the Reno city streets are now full of bad potholes in numerous locations on major streets with no sign of maintenance and the all too numerous manhole covers are worse than many deep potholes. Bad as kalifornia.
I loathe the city road managers/engineers and Washoe County/Reno has very high gas tax in Nevada like Vegas. Fill up your tanks in storey, churchill, Douglas or lyon counties if you can. Cheers to all good folks.
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paulj
Seattle
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Joined: 06/11/2007
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Flagstaff weather prediction is a low around freezing, and chance of rain or snow Thursday. I don't think that's optimal pothole patching conditions.
https://azdot.gov/adot-news/adot-crews-m........g-quickly-address-pavement-damage-storms
https://azdot.gov/news/i-17-pavement-improvement-project-starts-again-south-flagstaff
https://azdot.gov/news/governor-hobbs-joins-adot-announcing-505-million-investment-road-repair
* This post was
edited 05/01/23 09:37pm by paulj *
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Cptnvideo
Arizona - most of the time
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A month ago, we pulled our 42' 5th wheel from Wickenburg (US60) to Vicksburg to Bouse for a few days of boondocking, then to near Kingman via Parker & Lake Havasu for nearly a month. Roads weren't bad at all.
Then a couple days ago, we drove from Kingman to Surprise on I-40, 93 & 60. Between I-40 and Wikieup, there were potholes but most could be avoided. 60 south of Wickenburg was a mess a couple months ago, but the potholes have been filled.
Bill & Linda
Arizona
2019 Dodge Ram Laramie 3500 dually 4x4 diesel
Hensley Trailer Saver BD5 hitch
2022 Grand Design Solitude 378MBS
1600 watts solar, Victron 150/100 MPPT controller, GoPower 3kw inverter/charger, 5 SOK 206AH LiFePo4 batteries for 1030 ah
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Cptnvideo
Arizona - most of the time
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Desert Captain, we'll be in Payson in early June, then we travel to Prescott for the big rodeo. Sure hope they have 87 around Strawberry fixed by late June.
Do they have a timetable for repairs?
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Desert Captain
Payson
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Cptnvideo wrote:Desert Captain, we'll be in Payson in early June, then we travel to Prescott for the big rodeo. Sure hope they have 87 around Strawberry fixed by late June.
Do they have a timetable for repairs?
Don't know what the timetable for all of these repairs will be. The local Phoenix stations have been covering the story and I will update any news I happen to see.
Where do you stay in Payson? Houston Mesa CG has been closed for upgrades/repairs last winter but they should be open soon if not already. I will make one of my biweekly pilgrimages to Home Depot soon and will check out HM for you.
The weather here is awesome as spring as sprung big time! My lawn looks like a golf course and the garden is going crazy... should be a great summer.
Here is a shot I took yesterday, the garden {20 X 20 with 7.5' high Elk fencing} is behind the coach. I've got Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, apples and pears along with some tomatoes and all are roaring:
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/saVeJIJl.jpg)
![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin")
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Cptnvideo
Arizona - most of the time
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Your grass sure is green.
We've stayed at the Elks Lodge before, probably stay there again. We sure like Payson, good assortment of eating places, nice mix of other businesses and the traffic isn't too bad. DW has a cousin in town.
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