Calendars and highway projects

Gee, it sure was nice for the Indiana Department of Transportation to put a temporary halt to work on U.S. 27 this week.
But the work shouldn’t have been scheduled for this month in the first place.
Doesn’t anyone at INDOT know how to read a calendar?
The world’s largest gas engine show has been hosted in Portland the third weekend in August for more than 45 years.
Not four years or five years. More than 45 years. Apparently, that’s not enough to get on INDOT’s radar.
Some observers insist that this is the third time in seven years that highway projects have complicated local travel to and from the engine and tractor show. We haven’t been keeping score closely, but it does seem to be a perennial problem.
While intervention by the city after complaints from local merchants succeeded in a brief hiatus on the current project, the damage was already done.
Pedestrian travel at intersections all along Meridian Street has been made difficult — or impossible — because of demolition work. Barrels at those intersections and large holes on the corners have made vehicular traffic a challenge. And it’s all happening when tens of thousands of visitors are in town.
One young mother exasperated by having to navigate the mess while pushing a child in a stroller the other day spoke for the entire community. “Is this any way to make people feel welcome?” she asked.
No. It’s not.
But the calendar-challenged folks at INDOT apparently never heard of Hoosier hospitality. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]