Well, for the umpteenth year since I’ve lived in the Ann Arbor area (wow… it really has been upteen years!), the highway construction has made it impossible to travel in, out, or around the city. I would have said “nearly” impossible, or “neigh” impossible, but it actually really is impossible. Five sections of I-94 between Chelsea and Belleville are limited to one lane with intermittent total closures. Simultaneously, the US-23/I-94 interchange has four of its eight ramps closed, also with intermittent closures of the others. And the M-14/US-23 interchange is going to one lane starting next week. And this year, I noticed for the first time that the construction went right on through the winter. So we no longer have two seasons in Michigan… just one very long continuous season of construction.
Now, I fully realize that bridges and roads need to be repaired. It’s the timing and coordination that I question. Well, that and I’m more than just a little peeved that sections of road that are under construction for two consecutive summers last only five years before the same process needs to be repeated. It makes me wonder why the State of Michigan doesn’t require guarantees of quality from its contractors. I’ve also noticed that more and more frequently, when sections of road are removed for construction or utilities work, the road that is replaced is of rediculously poor quality… so bad that the new concrete and asphalt rivals compares poorly to most secondary dirt roads. (ie. Plymouth Road west of Green Rd., Glazier Way west of Earhart, and Golfside north of Washtenaw) They are so bad that at 20 mph, I’d have launched patients off of my ambulance cot if it weren’t for the restraining belts.
Poor quality, no pride in workmanship, no guarantees, and no accountability. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me, my mail deliverer treats the job the same way. Come to think of it, it downright makes my day when I stumble across someone who seems to give a *&#! about their job. (atta boy, Busch’s!)
