Are You Annoyed By Okemos’ Colossal Road Construction Project?

Thankfully summer has made its way into the Lansing area. Mother nature sure took her sweet time, but that's ok. At least we have warmer temps and lots of sunshine.

One of the things about Michigan that we all have become familiar with during the summertime is the "orange barrels." That makes sense right? You can't do a lot of road construction during the winter so when construction needs to be done, it's going to happen during the spring, summer and fall. That's just common sense.

Speaking of common sense, you cannot buy it, you can't rent it and you cannot score common sense for free. Either you have it or you don't.

I'm a radio host. I don't have a degree in engineering nor do I qualify to manage a project or projects the size of the projects currently going on in Okemos. I do have some complaints though.

We knew that the southbound lane of Okemos road would be closed while they are replacing the bridge on Okemos Rd. This bridge is just south of the intersection of Hamilton Rd. and Okemos Rd. I can accept that. They closed that same lane down last year.

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The question I have is, why did they decide to do the Grand River road project through Okemos at the same time? That makes absolutely zero sense. It's already inconvenient to get around, especially if you are heading south on Okemos Rd. You can either take Dobie and wait in the ridiculous traffic or you can drive out of your way to save time by heading southbound on Meridian Rd. That's how I have been heading southbound from Okemos.

Now the intersection of Grand River and Okemos Rd. is closed to northbound and southbound traffic. I'm not one to complain much about things that I can't control. I am frustrated by this, though, because it's very inconvenient. I'm not sure who gets paid to "think things through," but it seems the powers that be did not.

I am not alone in my frustration. I was talking to our Digital Managing Editor, who has to go past the construction to drive to work, and she had this to say about the road construction projects going on now in Okemos:

It's been extremely frustrating to deal with construction on the Okemos Rd. Bridge AND on Grand River. I think they probably could've thought it through and not completed the projects simultaneously.

Let's face it, it's not the construction workers' fault. I have no beef with them at all. It's with those that make these decisions without thinking them through. I feel bad for the businesses on Grand River that have been affected by the road construction. The businesses are noticeably less busy. Hopefully no one will go out of business.

I would love to hear from you. How are you navigating around these construction projects? Better yet, if you are someone that is a decision-maker with regard to road construction projects, I would love to hear the reasoning. Maybe there is a reason that they are doing these road projects at the same time. Please drop a message either way.

And remember to slow down. Traffic fines are doubled in construction zones and as frustrating as the traffic is, we want these crews to make it home to their families at night.