 |
| Quick, where's the turn lane? Where the hell are any of the lanes? |
For those who have had to endure the nightmare of Grant Line Road during the construction every time we see the light at the end of the tunnel we realize we have reached another dead end in the never-ending saga of horrible driving conditions on the road. Last time it was the poorly placed and confusing lane marking that gave residents and visitors to the road a slalom course to navigate their way through the construction zone. I guess the city elders felt the best thing then was to remove all the lane markings and see what happens.
Yep no lane markings. No turn lane arrows, no lane dividers- the only lane assignments are small plastic tabs set down to mark the lane boundaries. I guess that is what they are there for. You can't tell and its not like the city or construction company is going out of the way to place signs, markers or even a flagmen to help drivers steer their way way through this blight. You are on your own if you are stupid enough to try and tread the roadway.
 |
| Nice job of removing the lane marking, wouldn't want to make it easy for drivers. |
I was heading to a scanner call on Holly Drive yesterday and I had to cross Grant Line Road. Heading north at the intersection there were no markings to distinguish which were the right, left and straight ahead lanes. I sort of knew where they should be and as I started to cross the intersection the driver next to me in what was the left turn lane was going straight through too. He figured out in time and stopped to let me go first before we crashed. A near miss that should have never happened in the first place.
I returned to the office and angrily called the city to complain. Why were there no lane markings in the intersection I asked? the answer came back they were doing road work and paving. No shit- really? I would have never guessed. then I was told it was the contractor who must have forgot to replace the road marking which was supposed to be done at the end of the day. I drove back at 5:00 pm and not a soul around. I took the pictures showing the unmarked pavement and headed out to another assignment.
 |
| It's not like we need to know which lane we are supposed to be in. |
I managed to find a city councilman and vent my frustrations. Not sure why someone in city engineering would pass the buck of responsibility on to the contractor. it's the city's road and in the end they are responsible for the road conditions. If someone gets hurt or killed in an accident because of their sloppy work I am sure they will blame each other instead of figuring out why the job wasn't done right in the first place.
Driving to work today I saw a series of small left turn arrows placed in the road marking the intersections. It seems my venting fell on someone's ear as they marked it for drivers this morning. It is sad that it took an angry call for the city to make sure the right thing happened. I am just glad no one had to get hurt first for it to happen.
 |
| Will this road construction ever end? |
