#21: Summer Road Construction

Summer is practically here. I love the warm, sunny days. I can take the top down on the Jeep and leave it down for days, maybe even weeks. So nice!

But...(as with all good things, there's always a but) the thing I hate most about summer is the road construction. Just when it's the time of year for you to get out and enjoy a nice drive, there's construction everywhere to keep you from being able to open 'er up and enjoy a nice cruise. Ugh.

The thing that sucks most about road construction is how long the projects take. They last months...sometimes even years. Maybe that's because everytime I drive past a construction zone there are just as many people standing around as there are working.

I took this picture of a road crew in Guatemala when I was there a few weeks ago. Notice how all of the men are working? It's not like three guys doing all the work while three or four others "supervise." I think our construction crews in the US could learn a thing or two from these guys. The sad part is that these guys in Guatemala make around $70 a month. That's hard work for such little pay.

Another thing that sucks about road construction is the planning. Roads are at capacity, so the brilliant decision-makers decide to spend millions of dollars to add one lane. Yeah...ONE lane. Guess what happens next year? The same road is at capacity again... and they need to add another lane. More construction. More traffic delays. Why not just add two or three lanes the first time? Why do we have to go through this process every other year?

And tell me, for crying out loud, why we haven't come up with a better material for roads yet? Why is it we're still making roads out of something that has to be replaced and repaired every year? Seriously? It's 2008. Shouldn't we be past that yet?

Let's be honest: I know road construction is necessary. I know a lot of people rely on those jobs. But can't we make better decisions? Can't we come up with a better solution?

Summer Road Construction: You Suck.