respublica

How far can you drive on empty?

The other day I had to go over to the seminary and when I got in the car I noticed the gas gauge was between one quarter and empty. I wanted to fill up in St. Louis to avoid paying 75 cents per gallon more than in Illinois so I nervously took the chance that I'd be ok and not run out.

I made it fine and so this story spoke to me this morning. The folks at "My Mechanic" took the time to test all kinds of car models to see how many miles they had left in the tank when on empty or when the car's gas warning light came on. They even put up a chart with the data they found for many models of cars.

This will be awful

Once again the way to get to St. Louis from Illinois will be messed up with road work. And this project by IDOT is going to really mess things up. The three right lanes of eastbound Interstate 55/64, the ramp to southbound Illinois Route 3 and the ramp to southbound Tudor Avenue in East St. Louis, will all close as early as April 1. 

Can you imagine the semi trucks during this time? They dominate that route as it is.

That's 3 lanes and ramps! There will be no way to get over there without sitting in a long traffic jam at any time of day. For us in Illinois, it will probably mean taking the Musial bridge and then meandering all over the north side of downtown St. Louis to get back over to 64/40 or points south. Thankfully we now live in Collinsville and don't have to make daily trips over there, but unfortunately Dale still teaches a class and is on some seminary committees. He'll be stuck with this trip a couple days a week.

Every year it seems like IDOT or MoDOT is messing with the Poplar Street Bridge or points east and west of it. Will there ever be a time when they don't? I doubt it.

Mattresses and ladders tally 2021

I've rather neglected posting the numbers of mattresses and ladders which fall on St. Louis area roadways since the beginning of this year. So here is an update:

Mattresses 13

Ladders 10

Seems like people are still moving around with mattresses even with the slow down.

 

What's missing on the roads lately?

The St. Louis area has had a lot of crashes due to the snow and other weather. But for some reason there has not been any mattresses or ladders falling onto the highways lately.

A good thing.

Monday morning traffic report

Every St. Louis morning news program has been reporting a tractor trailer on fire at 270 and Olive. What strikes me, as always, is just how too darn big these trucks are now. The interstates in Illinois to and from St. Louis are clogged with these big guys. They are in front of you, behind you, next to you and it is beyond belief how huge they are allowed to be. Some government agency is constantly regulating one thing or other, but never these enormous trucks. Here is the semi on fire this morning.

How tiny the men on the left look.

Monday morning ladder drops

2 ladders have fallen on local highways this morning, must be Monday.

Tally:

Mattresses 56

Ladders 76

Another tally update

Mattresses 56

Ladders 74

two ladders this week hit roads  Be watchful out there

A big tally jump

All of a sudden mattresses and ladders are moving again. And falling onto the roads.

Currently:

Mattresses 54

Ladders 71

Highway droppings

There has been lull in mattresses and ladders falling onto St. Louis roadways. We haven't had any since September 16 when the number stood at mattresses 52 and ladders 62. But, just to keep us interested, Lance Hildebrand, traffic reporter for Y98, has started keeping track of cars with expired temporary license plates. This is kind of common practice in Missouri, many drivers aren't all that interested in getting permanent plates. So far the oldest seen had an expiration date of 11/17/17. There are a lot of expired tags in the St. Louis area. Charlie Brennan of KMOX gets on an expired temporary plate kick quite often. There must not be much enforcement.

Actually, I am often behind cars with expired temporary plates while in St. Louis.

A yearly reminder

With the darkness coming earlier and earlier, this is a good day to remind St. Louis area drivers that other states have much better lane lines. I keep hoping MoDOT will get with the system some day.

Tennessee roads we were on a couple of years ago.