Klingenmeier asks why state’s roads are terrible

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Dear Editor:

My wife Donna and I recently had a driving trip down to the Atlanta, Ga., area to visit friends and then making a stop in Augusta to see my son. It was a quick trip, with driving every day. Our route took us down through Kentucky to Nashville, Tenn., then the northern suburbs of Atlanta and over to the home of the Masters golf tourney.

One of the most notable things about the driving trip to me, who did all the driving, was the wonderfully paved roads and highways in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Someone has invented a paving material that is as smooth as glass and ALL these states are using it on their interstate highways and even an underused state highway in South Carolina we traveled on. It is smooth and quiet and absolutely endless in these states, even when we drove through the Smoky Mountains!

Then we re-entered Indiana.

Our state undoubtedly has the worst roads in this part of the country (if not everywhere). The only fairly decent road is the one between Indianapolis and the Shelbyville casino area – and even that doesn’t measure up to these other states.

So I ask: where is all the tax money collected through gasoline sales and vehicle registrations going? I can’t help but wonder because it sure isn’t showing up in the pavements we drive on in this state.

Ken Klingenmeier
Indianapolis