Six Lanes of Heaven

After work yesterday, I had to go to Dick's Sporting Goods, which is in No Hope Commons--er, New Hope Commons, the ungainly strip mall that sits in a swale at the intersection of Mount Moriah and 15-501. I did not want to go, mainly because I expected there would be lots of traffic on 15-501, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a lot of traffic. Actually, I don't mind traffic at all; if everyone remained civilized, it wouldn't be bad in the least bit. But few people remained civilized behind the wheel of a car. Instead, they metastasize into Jimmy Johnson wannabes who insist on driving 60 miles per hour and repeatedly changing lanes when there is a lot of traffic. I mean, this ain't Martinsville!

But much to my surprise, the traffic at 5:00 p.m. was light--so light that I figured something must be wrong. Or different. Yes, different. The stretch of 15-501 between Garrett Road and Mount Moriah has finally been widened to six lanes (that's three lanes going south, and three going north). More significantly, the third "lane" that ended 500 feet going south beyond Garrett Road no longer ends. And at least for this one trip, that made a lot of difference. I made it to Dick's and back home in less than thirty minutes.

Widening 15-501 is, of course, no long-term solution. I imagine 15-501 being replaced entirely by a long canal, a narrow river even, with weeping willows lining its banks, a waterway reserved for punts and punters.