Poor Planning

Sometimes I wonder who is truly responsible for logistical decisions in this town.

A major road near my house is closed for construction. This isn't just some routine patch-job. The entirety of the asphalt has been ripped up, they are doing whatever it is they do to the road bed, and then a whole new layer of asphalt will be applied. Frankly, the road needed it. There were ruts and potholes in that road that made driving downright dangerous for your car's suspension.

This repair job makes sense. not much about that particular project confuses me. I'm not even bothered that, last month, another major road was closed for an entire month for the same thing. What confuses me to the point of exasperation is this: The east-west detour route around the construction is, itself, under construction. Traffic has gone from two lanes in either direction, to one.

Who the hell thought this would be a good idea? Where in the city planning handbook does it recommend redirecting traffic through a neighborhood that has at least three businesses under construction, and one major intersection--the only intersection on that route with a light--under construction?

Oh, and if I happen to get the ear of any of these decision-makers, I would like to remind them that a fully-functional, regularly-timed traffic light is unnecessary when traffic is only permitted to flow in a single direction.

Sometimes I think a group of half-trained chimps could run this city better.