Posts
Just like downtown Boston during the Big Dig. Seriously. The worst part about the Big Dig isn't the mind-bending traffic, although that is bad, or the constant banging, whirring, screeching sounds, although that is bad too, or the fact that all of Massachusetts' money is going to fund this never-ending project, even though that stinks.
No, it isn't any of that. It is the fact that every ever-loving day, I drive to work. And EVERY DAY, the road is different.
Yesterday, the left lane was a turn left only lane and the middle and right lanes went straight. This would make sense, because across the street, the road is only 2 lanes, not three. But TODAY, today the left lane also goes straight. And this morning I found myself crossing the intersection between a school bus and a huge freight truck, and they both began to squish me between them in their effort to enter the two lane road ahead of us.
The turn onto the 93 highway used to be on the right, with a somewhat clearly marked sign. Now, the entry is on the left side, with no sign letting you know in advance that it has changed. It has been 3 weeks since that change, and I promise you, there has not been one morning that a driver from the right hand lane hasn't zoomed in front of me turning left, almost causing an accident. Every. Single. Morning.
Last week, I turned right into my building off of the main road. This week, I have to do a complicated series of turns, that are not explained nor are they labeled, in order to make it into my parking lot.
The other night when I took a cab back to my car from the movie, the cab driver got so hopelessly lost that he threw his hands up in the air and turned off the meter. When we finally pulled up in front of my building, he dejectedly said, "pay whatever you want."
There are also no crosswalks, because the street is littered with crushed concrete and spray painted arrows and unintelligible symbols that allegedly make sense to the construction folks, so on top of everything else, there are people crossing in the middle of the street. They just pop up between parked cars and big piles of dirt to take years away from my life.
Every night, it takes me half an hour or more to go the 10 blocks until the freeway. At least a half-hour. This week, I've endeavored to work from home past 7pm just to avoid that traffic. The words that spew from my mouth would make sailors blush.
This morning, though, after almost getting crushed between the school bus and the freight truck, there was a final indignity. Look at the new drivers on the road:
10 miles per hour, people, 10 MILES PER HOUR. I think I need a drink, and it is only 9:30am.
8 comments:
Yikes! I know it is an obnoxious pain in the rear, but I gotta' tell ya'-every time I go "home" to Boston to visit, I love the look of that Zakim Bridge and the Ted Williams tunnel that shoots me onto the pike in a heartbeat.
It is really a clusterfuck down there! When will it ever end? Would it be easier to T it in? Although with your hours, it's probably more comfortable to be able to drive right home...
But you lived in NY...did you drive around there? I laugh in the face of Boston "traffic" when I compare it to NY.
Camera phone? Or new baby camera always at the ready?
I once broke down in Boston and had to pull over and cry cause I couldn't get to the other side of the fucking road...that I could see....from my car....
I was also nearly late to my graduation at wheelock last summer due to a last minute road change that was on no map....
I am on record as saying--to a friend who worked at City Year at the time and who was very eager for the Great New Boston the Big Dig ought have wrought--that this thing would last forever and hemorraghe dollars.
But nobody ever listens to me.
-J.
Heh heh. DC is the same way. They've had this major project with the DC beltway, and they recently switched a major interchange from the right side of the highway to a left exit. Ya think they bothered to communicate it ahead of time? The near-misses were unbelievable. I do miss taking public transportation to work, but it's just not an option for me now.
that's one thing i don't miss about boston, that's for sure!
But driving in Boston would be so boring with out the Big Dig.
Now that they've gotten the tunnel to Logan open every time I drive to and from the airport it's on the same roads. It's crazy!
I think once I picked up people from the airport about 4 times in two months and every time I was going a different way, I never had any idea where I was.
Post a Comment