Global climate change is no joke.
The impacts are impossible to ignore. Unprecedentedly intense rain events overwhelm city sewer capacity. High winds and intense storms topple trees and power lines. Intense heat pushes HVAC systems to the breaking point.
Add to that list one more devastating impact. Road construction in T-Town has become a never-ending, year-round pox on humanity.
Roads closed
Time was, there was a road construction season. Like, from April-ish through late September or thereabouts. The dreaded orange barrels would spring up with the spring flowers, and disappear with the falling leaves.
We could count on barrel-free fall and winter. Now we barely have a winter, falls are milder than ever, and there is nothing to prevent ceaseless road construction in our fair environs.
We get it. Road repair was neglected for decades, and axle-busting streets looked more like crater-strewn moonscapes than actual pavement. Something had to give.
Toledo voters passed a quarter percent income tax hike in twenty twenty specifically dedicated to road repair to address this problem. The question is, do we have the capacity to fix the damn roads with any sense of urgency?
Those of you who commute using Lewis Ave know the answer. A resounding heck to the no. Lewis was a one-way nightmare for what seemed like years. This past summer all improvements looked complete, yet the barrels just sat there. The new road is a beaut, but did it really take years to get ‘er done?
And then there’s the ongoing hellscape that once was the Broadway corridor in the Old South End. It’s one-way inbound and has been for months, with little apparent progress. Local businesses are suffering, residents are forced to go the wrong way on adjacent one-way streets to get home, and the area is a literal mess. With no end in sight.
It reminds us of the improvements to downtown’s Levis Square. The City promised it would be a quick project, with completion in time for July Fourth. Then in time for JeepFest in August. Weeks went by with no progress. Finally in September the work was complete.
And now there’s the closure of the intersection of Summit and Cherry, with additional pavement work on the King Bridge. Just when we thought the construction season was drawing to a close, instead a new sprouting of barrels. In September. With attendant traffic nightmares throughout the area.Â
 The City says it will be complete by early next year. Umm, sure. See Levis Square above.
Stop the madness
What gives, Wade?Â
Look, we get the need for road improvements. Toledo voters agreed to levy income taxes for that purpose not once but twice.
But can we catch a seasonal break from the madness?
Fix the roads.Â
But for the love of all that’s righteous, get it over with.
