Chaser "Pop Quiz"

[L Kimbrel]

The weather is pretty dull today, so just for fun --

In the thread "You know you're a storm chaser when...", T Mosley posted this:
"...when you drive from Dallas to Oklahoma City on Farm and Market roads just from force of habit."

10 chaser points to the first one who correctly responds with what exactly a farm-to-market road is!

 

[Jason Foster]

FM routes are TX DOT roads under their system that we as chasers quite often use. They were originally named because they were the roads used by ranchers and farmers to get their goods from the farms and coops to the towns to sell or transfer to the train depots.

Add: One reason we chasers tend to like them is they are part of the great grid system that is found in a larger majority of chase territory and often have higher speed limits. I can't remember at the moment if they are all paved, and if not obviously the speed limits would be less.

 

[Jared Thompson]

Got to love that in Texas those FM roads speed limits are 70 to 75 mph in some counties.

 

[Jacob Ferden]

They're not always such a good thing. They keep the speed limit at 70 even when you get down into the mesquite jungles. I just about lost it when i came up to a curve and a drop into a draw at about 70 mph in the vicinity of Crowell back in June.

 

[Shane Adams]

They're cool until you have a flat. Apparently shoulders weren't on the menu when these roads were paved.

 

[John J. Holt]

They are also the roads we use to get to most of the farm ponds and private lakes in Oklahoma. Fishing anyone?

 

[Ric Burney]

They're not always such a good thing. They keep the speed limit at 70 even when you get down into the mesquite jungles. I just about lost it when i came up to a curve and a drop into a draw at about 70 mph in the vicinity of Crowell back in June.

Or when you crest a hill and find yourself directly behind a John Deere tractor taking up the whole road... doing about 7 mph.

 

[Brian Stertz]

So called FM scream roads work only if there is not a harvest going on....a 6" rain has hit the area....or the local sheriff/deputy happens to live on said road. Also as Shane mentioned no shoulders so if you hit a notorious hailer on the core side.....you could be found stuck in a bar ditch. I do like them though....wished Kansas had more paved ones and it seems Oklahoma gave up resurfacing them say back in the World War I era. Texas does a decent job on their's however.

 

[Steve Worthington]

I think Oklahoma gave up resurfacing all roads back in World War I

 

[Jason Foster]

I think Oklahoma gave up resurfacing all roads back in World War I

Or didn't bother digging out others after the dust bowl years covered many up!

 

[L Kimbrel]

And the answer is....

As Jason said, the farm-to-market road system was established to ensure farmers all-weather access to markets for their crops. In a nutshell, the government provides additional funding for the maintenance of FM roads above and beyond whatever resources are available to the local authorities for that purpose. Altho a few of the midwestern states have done away with the township government format, for the most part the townships are responsible for maintenance of our beloved grid backroads. And the resources available to these townships varies wildly depending on the taxable base, i.e. population. In the really rural townships, some of which don't even boast a small village in their district, those extra funds can cover an annual oil-and-chip top-dressing and a few shovelsful of asphalt road patch.

Unfortunately for us, there's often no way to tell if you're on a FM road or one of their lesser brethren. You just gotta know. If you ARE on one, if nothing else, there's a good chance it's going to go somewhere and not dead-end or go unexpectedly mud on you.

And whoa!! 70-75 mph posted limits???? Clearly Texas FM roads are a whole 'nother species than the Illinois variety. About the only signs you see posted on ours are "Narrow Bridge" and seasonal weight limits. No need, I guess, to post a speed limit on a road that will tear vital components from your vehicle at anything over 60mph.

I am one of those spoiled country folks fortunate enough to have a farm-to-market road out front. It's still just an unstriped, move-over-to-meet, single lane country road, only a little wider, a lot smoother, gets fresh oil-and-chip every year and an occasional full regrade and resurface. It's also the first road plowed after the snow. Sweet.

 

[Chris Hayes]

We've had mostly good luck with FM roads except on 2 occasions, both last year. On May 22 we were on a FM road and it was muddy but it was like driving on oil. We were sliding all over the road. Our chase vehicle is a Dodge Ram 3500 and we had it in 4 WD. Even then there was no sliding all over. I know some chasers actually went off the roads that day. Thankfully no one was hurt.

On June 12 we were chasing the storms between 77 and 35 in Kansas. I had us going on some FM roads to get a good look at the storms. Well we got near this very menacing, albeit small, HP supercell that was coming toward us. I was like, "we need to get the hell back to 77 and shoot north. Using the GPS I was taking us back along some FM roads. About 1.5 miles from 77 we got on this FM road, and I saw a sign that said "Road not maintained, drive at own risk." I'm thinking okay, that doesnt sound good. The road felt like it was paved in crushed brick or something. Getting back on 77 (FINALLY) it felt like we had a tire filled with mud. After going for about about 2 minutes we pulled over. It wasnt filled with mud it was flat. It was severely torn up. While pulled over there was a tornado warning for the county we were in including a reported tornado. Not a good situation. After about 45 minutes we got the tired changed and was back chasing. The attatched image is the HP that was heading in our direction.