Monday, May 13, 2013

Road construction

I'm getting sick of it, I am. My primary route to work and home involves a bridge over I-80. Which, in the infinite wisdom of all involved, needed to be widened, raised, all around shut the hell down. Great, it was a narrow POS. It is all part of a larger interchange project 1/4 mile away. But, the official detour is a 2 mile pain in the ass. Not because of the construction there, but because you have to pull into or across an intersection that often will have 20 cars waiting with pissed off people inside them. Wild west Indian/com-bloc style moves at a 315 degree intersection sucks. Then 6 lights within a 1.5 mile stretch. All of which seem to be programmed to change when the heaviest traffic approaches from the last light.


Also, we are being infested by those stupid yellow flashing left turn arrows. The concept is fine with me. /sarc The theory: people will be more careful when pulling out in front of oncoming traffic, because YELLOW! The practice: you never get a turn arrow, because, um, because, er, because....shit, I got nothing. And, I sit there getting antsy, again, because YELLOW! Yellow means floor it or nail the brakes. They really do not do anyone any good in a town where the pastime is seeing if the light can turn yellow before you clear the far side of the intersection.

4 comments:

Robert Fowler said...

Ah yes, the orange cone season is upon us. It makes delivering pizza interesting. Especially when a detour for one little bridge is over 5 miles. Sometimes I hate summer.

Angus McThag said...

Six lights in 1.5 miles? Urbandale?

JD Rush said...

Hubbell in Altoona. I would have nuked exit 142 from orbit and started over. It would have been done sooner.

Angus McThag said...

Plus there would have been this picturesque crater!