Construction and holiday travels
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| The route from Ada to Franklin (my home town) |
I recently read this list of 51
signs you’re from Ohio. And while I’m from Indiana, my family is from Ohio and
the Midwest is the Midwest, we all have to stick together. Number 10 is “You
know there are only two seasons: summer and winter. If you count ‘construction’
as a season, then there are three.” Number 11 builds on that idea; “There are
more orange barrels in your town than people.” These two are probably the
truest statements I’ve ever read, both in Ohio and Indiana.
Winter
break is approaching and I’m excited to head home, but I am not excited to make
the drive home. Let’s talk a little about that drive. First I take state Route
81 from Ada to Lima. Then I’ll weave through the construction in Lima and make
a treacherous merge onto Interstate 75. Once I’m south of the four Lima exits,
I’m free of the orange barrels until I merge onto Interstate 70 in Dayton.
Over the
summer there was construction going through Dayton and Columbus, on my way to
Cleveland. It was terrible, I remember making the drive after working a double
and arriving in North Royalton at four in the morning. Luckily, taking I-70
from Dayton, Ohio to Richmond, Ind. is significantly less stressful now than it
was then. But once I hit Greenfield, Ind. the construction begins again. I won’t
even describe to you the horror that is merging from Interstate 465 to
Interstate 65 and the construction stemming 20 miles south of Indianapolis on
I-65.
Basically,
it is the drive from hell. But I’ll plug in my iPod and do it anyway because
that’s what the holidays are all about. Right? And why does construction naturally
cause us to raise our voices and clench the steering wheel a little tighter?
Maybe it’s the fear of being smashed between a semi and the guardrail. Maybe
it’s driving 15 miles per hour slower. Maybe it’s all the drivers who commit
the cardinal sin of braking on the interstate.
Whatever it
is, when you’re traveling this holiday season just know you’re not alone in your
stress and irrational anger. I’m driving through Indiana “The crossroads of America”
and I’m probably angrier than you.
Julie, try taking US 30 instead. There's no construction and the traffic flows pretty well on it. I get home in about 3-3.5 hours because the traffic really only starts to pick up when I get off on my exit.
ReplyDeleteI hate construction. To get home, I drive through Dayton and for as long as I can remember Dayton has always had parts of the highway under construction. I always give myself an extra hour to get through Dayton if I have to be home to Cincinnati at a specific time. Also, I NEVER see anyone working on the construction. Either there is no one there, or they are just standing around. They all do hard work, but why does it always take so long to get things finished?
ReplyDeleteGibby and I were just talking about Ohio people the other day and how different they are from everywhere else. Since me and him are from two different states too we came to a pretty quick agreement.
ReplyDeleteAlso reading this makes me a little happy that I am not making that long, long voyage to the City of Brotherly Love this break. As much as I would love to be home for a month the ride is almost unbearable. I feel your pain, but I envy you at the same time, not because you get to go home but because you get to drive yourself. Taking a bus is the absolute worst. We can argue later about whose angrier than who, just be prepared to lose.
I can definitely agree about buses being terrible. I used to take the Megabus to Chicago all the time and it was truly awful. I didn't know you weren't going home over break! You can totally come chill at my house.
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