Fun on the Freeway
Tucson is doing some construction on the freeway that runs through town. Basically, the main exits through town are all closed. 8 miles of freeway (that used to be 3 lanes in both directions), is down to 2, with concrete buttresses on either side, no off ramps, and virtually nowhere to pull off the road... for eight miles. I live on one side of the construction, and work on the other, so every day I get to drive it.
The very first day they closed the exits and brought it down to 2 lanes, someone got a flat a couple miles in. Since then I've seen all sorts of interesting things one does not want to see on a freeway (especially a freeway with NO WAY OFF). Vehicles with flats, vehicles stalled, vehicles going 25 for no apparent reason, parked cement trucks, pitchforks (plural, that's right, 'cause one wouldn't be challenging enough)... The pitchforks story gets even better, as someone in a truck hit one, driving over the middle of the shaft, breaking it, sending the shaft spinning towards me, and the end with the tines spinning into the other lane of traffic... Just what a freeway needs... flying pitchforks. I'm pretty sure that had to end badly for a lot of people.
I've even managed to be the problem vehicle on one occasion, when my back tire shredded, but I managed to limp along far enough to find one of the few places to pull off the road. The city has hired tow trucks to patrol the construction zone, to try clear up problems before they get too bad. Luckily for me one came by, and since he couldn't tow me (because it was the back tire that shredded), he changed my tire to the donut, and let me drive off to Discount Tire to get things replaced.
Short version is that there's excitment almost every morning around here... and the construction is only supposed to take 3 years. Think of the fun.
The very first day they closed the exits and brought it down to 2 lanes, someone got a flat a couple miles in. Since then I've seen all sorts of interesting things one does not want to see on a freeway (especially a freeway with NO WAY OFF). Vehicles with flats, vehicles stalled, vehicles going 25 for no apparent reason, parked cement trucks, pitchforks (plural, that's right, 'cause one wouldn't be challenging enough)... The pitchforks story gets even better, as someone in a truck hit one, driving over the middle of the shaft, breaking it, sending the shaft spinning towards me, and the end with the tines spinning into the other lane of traffic... Just what a freeway needs... flying pitchforks. I'm pretty sure that had to end badly for a lot of people.
I've even managed to be the problem vehicle on one occasion, when my back tire shredded, but I managed to limp along far enough to find one of the few places to pull off the road. The city has hired tow trucks to patrol the construction zone, to try clear up problems before they get too bad. Luckily for me one came by, and since he couldn't tow me (because it was the back tire that shredded), he changed my tire to the donut, and let me drive off to Discount Tire to get things replaced.
Short version is that there's excitment almost every morning around here... and the construction is only supposed to take 3 years. Think of the fun.
posted by Tam @ 10:16 PM
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