So one of our favorite pastimes here in the Beehive state is road construction. For some reason we just can't seem to get enough of those lovely orange cones, that loose asphalt all over the road (and cracking our windshields), and of course, our friendly neighborhood sign-holding guys. Quick aside - I'm still up in the air on whether that is the best job in the world or the worst job in the world. On the one hand, you get paid to stand and hold a sign. Your job qualifications are basically: 1. Remain mostly upright. That's it! On the other hand, you have to be outside, all day, in any weather, and you can't surf the internet when you get bored (and let's face the facts folks, that's a big job perk for sitting in a cubicle). Of course, with the near-ubiquity of web-enabled phones, the downsides are shrinking... something to consider for my next career.
Anyways, back to road construction. It seems that the Utah Dept. of Transportation (motto: You can turn an ox-cart around on these roads!) follows the 'just-not-quite-enough' philosophy of road construction. Case in point: the I-15 corridor through Salt Lake. Call me crazy, but I seem to remember a massive, horrendously expensive overhaul of that road about 10 years ago coinciding with those Olympics that were here. We got new lanes, fancy signage, bas-relief ski jumpers on all our bridges, the whole shebang. Now the whole mess is under construction again. Why? Well, it seems that all those new lanes are operating at full capacity already. Now, you or I, if asked to design the freeways around here, might assume that the area will continue to grow at a somewhat constant rate and... oh, I don't know, add more than one lane at a time. You know, just so you don't have to tear up the road every few years. You'd think that a little foresight would save us all a lot of commuting hassle. Of course, the same people who are in charge of roads are also trying to keep an under-used public transportation system in the black financially, so maybe they're a lot smarter than we all think. I wonder if they need more sign-holding guys?
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4 comments:
Funny, we seem to be having the same problem in washington
And in California, except we don't have any money to reapir or replace roads. We just closed the ruined lane and create more traffic problems. This is why I work a mile from home. 5-20 minute commute depending on if I drivce or walk...
thumbs up :D
I thought I would get a break from road construction when I left Utah. Nope. They tore up an 8 mile stretch of road that I have to drive on every single day. And you know what? I haven't seen ONE sign holding dude. LAME!
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