Highway Holes From Hell

Critical Miami recently called "BULLSHIT" on this article (registration required) by Larry Lebowitz about pothole maintenance on I-95. In a post called What's up with the holes in I-95?, Critical Miami argues that they are man-made, not accidents in need of fixing.

[The article] talks all about the difference between the road surface of '95 between BPB and Dade, and the pothole repair strategies of FDOT subcontractors. Fine, sofar as it goes. But color me stark raving mad, they're putting those holes in, not removing them. Why? I don't know. Maybe they're installing sensors of some sort. But check the holes: they're at suspiciously regular intervals. Some of them are are perfect-rectangle-shaped. And check my photo sequence, shot of a crew working on I-95 late one night: the approach, they're doing something with a big fat hole, two big holes, and as above, a picture of some dudes very clearly jackhammering the highway (the latter is digitally brightened, which is why it looks different). Explain that!

Riptide doesn't know a pothole repair strategy from a hole in the ground, but could these be sensors for the metered stop ramps that are coming to a stretch of I-95 in north Miami next year? Maybe, says Jesus Martinez, an administrator who is part of a DOT team implementing the system. As of today, he says, the in-road sensors are all in place, so if Critical Miami spies any more suspicious jackhammering, it might be time to call Homeland Security.-Frank Houston