Traffic

Today, after school, I needed to pick up Will from his school (since Helena is taking an ACT prep class after school and can't get him) then run some errands.  I teach in Saratoga Springs, which is two towns to the west of my home town of American Fork.  The errands were in Orem, 3 towns to the south of home.  My daily commute is about 20 minutes, each way.  That really isn't too bad, though, because I don't travel during peak rush hour traffic.  I am part time, so morning rush is over before I go, and I come home two hours before evening rush.

However, my errands into Orem left me trying to get home again during the evening rush.

UGH!!!

I love living in a vibrant and busy town, surrounded by bunches of other vibrant and busy towns, where everything I could possibly need or want is just minutes from home.  That kind of convenience is paid for with a price, though, and that price is horrible traffic!  It was so frustrating trying to get anywhere with all those other cars on the road, not to mention the 'blessed' drivers!  I have very little patience with slow drivers, or poor drivers, or anyone who isn't rock solid about what road they are on or where they are planning to go.  Sorry to all the little old blue haired ladies out there in their boat sized Buicks... get out of the way, granny! ;)

When I am driving, I have a constantly evolving 'Plan B' formulating in my head so that I can dodge obnoxious traffic jams with a split second decision.  Does everybody do that?  There is usually about a ga-jillion ways to get from point A to point B, and it is good to know all of them!  It probably doesn't save me any time, but it sure makes me feel better.

Of course, the real reason traffic is insane (besides too many people and too few lanes) is that I-15 is under construction all the way through Utah County, as is EVERY bridge/overpass/ramp on and off the darned freeway!  You might remember I told you about the Main Street interchange not that long ago.  Now, it is the 500 E interchange that is shut down and causing havoc with the commute.

So, to sum it up, I had a frustrating time trying to get around this evening, and I am very grateful that my normal commute is during non-peak times!