Wednesday morning was a bit like — as Yogi Berra would call it — déjà vu all over again.
Shortly after 8 a.m., the phone rang. It was a member of the U.S. 160 reconstruction project team alerting us to the fact that freshly poured concrete on the construction site had been damaged.
We started to feel like it was last November all over again, when someone strolled along the freshly poured concrete sidewalk while curing blankets were still on it, doing more than $10,000 in damage and setting the project back.
Like last November, we were invited to walk over to the construction site to see the damage. This time, someone, either deliberately or while completely oblivious to the world around them, rode a scooter through freshly poured concrete, setting the project back and increasing the budget.
We still feel this should go without saying, but, again: Don’t be dumb.
Honestly.
We see no gain in causing damage and stretching the project out. And there are certainly better ways to make the front page of the newspaper.
The WW Clyde crews were a day ahead of schedule on that portion of the project when someone rode their scooter through, the project superintendent told us. Not anymore.
Now they’re waiting to determine the full cost of what’s now being investigated as criminal mischief, but have told us it could potentially be upwards of $20,000 depending on the how severely the integrity of the concrete was damaged.
At least they were able to move forward with reopening a second lane of traffic despite the incident. We commend the crews for finishing the dogleg section that required taking things down to one lane in eight days instead of the projected 14 and ensuring the stretch would be back to two lanes in advance of Memorial Day.
We’ve also heard several stories from project team members of folks hopping the barricade and walking through the construction zone.
We’re pretty sure no one is so important they should hold up road construction to cross whenever and wherever they’d like.
Like we said before, for the benefit of our community and the workers, let’s not stretch this project out any longer than necessary. Be mindful of where you’re walking, follow the directions of any construction crews you’re near and cross at identified pedestrian crossings.
We all want it to be completed so things can get back to normal and so we can enjoy driving through a downtown that’s not subject to constant potholes and buckling (and where we have more safe pedestrian crossings).
We also need to keep in mind these construction folks are here to do a job, and they’re contributing to our community while they’re here. They’ve proven to be friendly and good community partners.
Let’s also continue to be good community partners. Let’s be kind to the reconstruction crews, grateful for the improvements they’re making in our community, follow the signs and guidance, and support local businesses the best we can. They’ve weathered construction, flooding within the community, a light winter, drought and so much more.
Let’s do our part to allow the project to finish on time and our businesses to be successful.
Randi Pierce
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