I honestly hate to single out this "county-mountie" but he just had the misfortune of being in front of me this morning and not pulling up to the big white stripe on the blacktop-see photo-after I beeped my horn twice, waiting a few moments and then beeped again (twice). Had he done so, then I would have been able to use the turn lane but instead he just parked his cruiser right there in the middle of the lane-oblivious to what was going on in the world; and to think, I could have not been eight minutes late to work if he would have just pulled up just short of two feet. Then again, these hopeful thoughts are all for naught as once the light turned green the deputy decided to turn right anyway and I was caught by the West Ashley bridge (malfunctioning?) for 45-minutes as we had to let a sailboat get out into the harbor.
A Growing Trend
Charlestonians have often lamented about tourists needing to "go back to Ohio"-heck they even started a web-site-because the growing sentiment is that tourists cause traffic problems. I don't buy it; a majority of the "yahoos" I see causing T-total cluster-f's have South Carolina tags on the back of their cars and either a Clemson sticker or (sadly) a Citadel sticker somewhere on the window or bumper. Which while I am on topic, wtf wouldn't you know to merge into the right lane on the down ramp (heading towards town) by the round Holiday Inn (especially if you went to school here for 4 years)? I hate to generalize Citadel grads and their driving ability but after years of making this trek at least once a day, five days a week, for quite a few years now, I can say about eighty percent of the time, there's a Citadel sticker on the back of the car who ends up stuck in the 10 feet of caution area awaiting to merge.
Make the Connection
There's also a lot of hub-bub and hand-wringing (read: opposition) about the proposed (more than a decade ago-see big mound at the end of the James Island Connector across the street from Harris Teeter) extension of 526, which would finally connect the City with the surrounding greater-Charleston Metro area. I say make the connection. Anyone who travels Savannah Highway will tell you that it is a nightmare: stop and go traffic due to bad timing on the traffic lights, drivers won't travel 45 mph near the auto mile (the speed limit doesn't lower to 35 until you hit Ashley River Baptist Church) and all of this cow-herding of cars bottle-necks to a bridge that may or may not be standing upright allowing a sailboat to travel beneath. Simple economics say that if there is one sailboat leaving port (not spending any more money) and about a hundred cars waiting to get Downtown to make money or spend money then the cars should take precedent.
Sorry for the rant but this is my first post using the Blackberry and I have a sh_crap ton of time on my hands.
Sent via JET's BlackBerry from T-Mobile
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