SAFETY: Drivers, now hear this

Dear Neighbors:

This is a plea to obey street signs in construction zones.

We live on a residential corner in Hayden where the intersection and road to the west have been under construction for sewer and water placement for several weeks and is expected to continue into October before being repaved. The construction landscape changes daily. Passable one day does not mean it will be the next day.

We are astounded at the disregard for “Road Closed” signs, cones, barricades, personal property, etc. Drivers move barricades to get past them, not replacing them, driving on grass and driveways, all to avoid the inconvenience of turning around.

This sense of entitlement (“The signs are meant for others, not for ME”) is an epidemic. Even during construction hours, they dodge workers and heavy equipment with little regard for safety, theirs or anyone else’s.

Just the other day, not five minutes after quitting time when the workers went to relocate the heavy equipment to block the intersection to further discourage anyone from passing the barricades, a driver slipped between barricades, drove off a foot-high ledge into the intersection and high centered the vehicle…requiring a tow truck, police report, and at least an hour overtime for two workers. It didn’t have to happen.

Please, choose a different route until the road has been paved back and opened to through traffic. Unfortunately, this is probably just me blowing off steam. Thank you to those drivers who have turned around and found another way to their destination.

JENIFER LYDA

Hayden