Oxford road construction: When will it end?

CHASE FARMER
DM Senior Staff Columnist

Since my dubious editor, Mr. Renick, reached deep into to his evil mind and changed the title of the entertainment section to the more swanky "Arts and Life" section, I have had to weigh the effects. I have,however, come to the conclusion that it is for the better. This change allows more range of subjects than just music. And so the topic of this column, despite all of my previous rantings, is not about music, but about driving in Oxford.

Hey, what could be more a part of life than driving. We all do it... well, most of us. But trust me on this one, you're not missing out on anything. If it wasn't so freaking hot, I would be doing either.

The town of Oxford is fraught with perils when it comes to driving. There are as my colleague pointed out, too many dang cell phones, the roads suck and the parking is unbearable.

I won't bore you with more talk about cell phones, my main concern is with the roads themselves. Oxford for some strange reason has found a reason to expand Jackson Avenue.

Again.

I mean when the first expansion was over, what were we left with? Nothing but a turn lane with no place to turn. Granted, traffic flows more freely, but that was never really a problem. And now with the current project under way, the situation is even worse. Aside from the painstakingly slow pace of the work, which started early last spring and isn't expected to be completed until December, I just don't see the need. Traffic was never that bad in the first place.

My other beef with the current construction is that there are no markings anywhere on the current drives. When I pull up to the Sorority Row intersection heading toward Wal-Mart, I have no idea which lane is the "turn lane," if there is one, and which one is the "go straight" lane. It would make sense that the right lane would be the "go straight/ turn right lane" and the inside or left lane should be for those who want to try to prove their alpha male superiority and turn left without a turn signal. The point is, I have no idea what to do. If I wait in the inside lane behind some moron trying to turn left I'll wait all day, but I go around them, I risk getting run over by oncoming traffic. Put some dang paint on the road and let us know.

The parking argument has been done to death, so deal with it. It isn't going to get better. The Square, well, you get used to it. But come on, we can do something about the current construction site.