Tag: Road Work

Oh NO! Again?

~ JodiLea ~ Leave a comment

I knew it was too good to last. As soon as the weather turned slightly warm, the utility company sent trucks to invade our neighborhood. These trucks had large equipment and assorted other machines that I did not recognize. Five (possibly more) crews of road workers have claimed the streets that I use to get to town.

The normal orange signs are posted:

This sign is new. They are posted on every street, multiple times. There is usually a crew for trenching, and one of them serves as a flagman. They are very casual about the major disturbance they are causing.

I was at a stop sign, wanting to turn left. My signal was on, so he would know what I wanted to do. After a few minutes, he waved me on, indicating I could turn left.

As I turned the corner and saw the road’s condition, I looked over at the guy. He nodded his head yes and waved me on impatiently. I just knew that this was a mistake!
Only half the road was available due to the massive machines lined up on the left. The road that I was supposed to drive on had a trench, and to the right of that was a pile of asphalt. My little Subaru was going to get dirty and possibly stuck.

I know that I had a wincing look on my face. I had to negotiate the road by driving split. The left tires rode inside the trench. The right tires flattened piles of asphalt. My car jumped and bucked like a rodeo bull. Had I not been driving, I would have been car-sick. Why people like off-roading, I will never understand.

All this roadwork is giving me flashbacks of last summer. Plenty of trenches were dug, but they blocked the road or put metal plates over them. Those trenches were 4 feet deep. And yet, no signs warned us back then.

Last week, I was a prisoner in my own home. I woke up to the sound of asphalt being scraped up and spewed into the back of a truck. This is not the sound one expects to hear when living in the forest.

The view is taken from my front porch. The noise is muted for the reader’s sake.

The following afternoon, another crew showed up and paved over the entire cul-de-sac and partway down the road. When we built our house and moved in the Summer of 2012, the road was falling apart. Fourteen years later, it is finally smooth and new.

I am expecting an Earthquake or a tornado any day now.

TTFN

Say It Isn’t So

~ JodiLea ~ Leave a comment

Just when we thought the work on our street was nearly finished, we learn that it really has only begun. Now, they are ready for the BIG machines to come in and make REALLY BIG HOLES. From September through November, it turns out.

Oh, they have begun to prep other streets around our neighborhood, and have seriously damaged the one road we were taking to get off our road and into town. Last week, we had to take a different route to town every day. Every day, I had to rely on my Apple CarPlay to navigate me – whether I was coming or going.

Some residents just stopped going anywhere, unless it was Sunday and the road crews were off work. Sure, the potholes and metal plates were still there, causing you to slalom down the mountain. However, the streets were free from roadblocks and detours. No GPS guidance necessary. Even for me.

It started July 10th, 2025, and wrapped up the week before Thanksgiving. Meaning PG&E is finished burying their power lines. We don’t know if the cable or telephone companies will follow suit. If they do, it will be next summer. For now, our neighborhood is ours again. I did not realize how possessive I am of our neighborhood.

I understand now why I was so angry about it. It was like I was being violated when our streets were torn up, and our cul-de-sac was an equipment and materials parking lot. Even getting lost every day was not as disturbing as the fact that residents were not told in advance, or informed of what would happen when. It was as if we were not there.

TTFN

Road Work Ahead

~ JodiLea ~ Leave a comment

Don’t you hate seeing these signs?


I do. I see them all year round. I understand that’s when they can work on the roads, so I try to be patient. I normally succeed. This summer’s road work is giving my patience a trying test.

I live on the cul-de-sac of a long and winding road. In early July, a massive road crew started tearing up the street. They are preparing to move the overhead electric wires underground. I’m all for that idea. But, I can’t drive out of my driveway to go to town without causing a major disturbance in the Force. The entire street has open trenches, huge trucks, and equipment blocking the roads.

This is what we see every 20 yards or so. You have to stop at the red light, even though there is no one around. They are watching all the stops via cameras. The arm will only go up if all the trenches are covered. It will let you drive through when the equipment is maneuvered to let a car through. Our five-minute trip to town now takes 20-30 minutes. Unless it is the weekend. But early Monday morning, they are back at it.

We are told that this work will go on until October. Now, we park our vehicles on a driveway down the hill on the street below us. They are part-time residents and are happy we are coming and going, making their property look inhabited. As an added bonus, hubby’s second car is a sheriff’s patrol car. Its presence makes the neighborhood feel safer.