How Not to do Road Repairs

I do not get pleasure from complaining or criticizing, but sometimes the frustration level rises so high as to just make you blow your top.

My pet peeve concerns Roads Work and Management. There is so much that one can point a finger at as to be overwhelming, but this week I saw something that was so bad that I was driven to my keyboard to let off steam.

In the Community of Valencia there is a region called the Camp de Turia, and three small towns sit next to one another as neighbours. There is the town of Pedralba, which serves as my town; and next to us further up river is the town of Bugarra, and farther on, Gestalger. These towns are connected by a very narrow ribbon of road that has become increasingly overcrowded in both volume of traffic, as well as size of vehicles.

Just prior to the March, 2008 elections the Valencian government promised that a long awaited by-pass road around Pedralba would get underway. In fact, there will be two by-passes to convey traffic around the town as it approaches from either of two directions. Certain sections of the road between Pedralba and Bugarra will be widened and hairpin bends eliminated.

So far, all of this is very welcome news as at present all of this very heavy traffic travels directly through the town of Pedralba, shaking the plaster from walls, and in some cases very high trucks have collided with balconies. The situation has become intolerable.

The thing that has got me upset is that for a lot of people what has been a ten minute drive will be turned into a 45 minute nightmare as the plan is to cut access between Pedralba and Bugarra along the existing road. The entire project may take as long as nine months, or more, but one would hope that the road will not be closed for that entire length of time. There are many houses in between, and a business or two and several farmer’s fields.

What annoyed me so much was to see the signs go up notifying of the closure of the road and advising the detour route. These signs were up and in plain sight of motorist who would have gone the long way round, while the shorter road continued to be open. After a couple of days the signs were covered up with black plastic, and will only be uncovered during those periods when it is necessary to actually close the road for temporary periods.

By displaying the signs falsely and causing the motoring public to take long and unnecessary detours did not seem to be of any concern to the road bosses. How do these people think, or more to the point, are they capable of rational thought?

I shudder to realize that these are the same people responsible for the design and construction of the very roads that we commit ourselves to get about safely. Somehow, anyone who can be capable of such cavalier attitudes and disregard of the motoring public can hardly be trusted for our safety.


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael