respublica

Better than a tie

A couple of ladders hit local highways yesterday afternoon one on EB 70 at Lindbergh and the other on WB 64 at Chesterfield bridge.

Ladders 74

Mattresses 72

A tale of two sisters doing London and France

In January of 2018, the two daughters of our landscape director, Gayle, headed for Ireland and wrote very entertaining blog posts on their experiences. Now a year and a half later they are at it again, this time relating their trip to London and Paris. These two have the gift of gab and travel writing- Witty and informative. If you want a joyful read, take a look at A Tale of Two Gingers.  To get the most out of their trip you should scroll down to where they began and work up. Their first post this time is titled, "I see London, I see France".

An unexpected mishap

This weekend Dale preached for a church's anniversary in northern Kansas. This church was in a rural area by itself, there was no town nearby. All the roads leading to it were gravel which meant the parking lot looked like every vehicle was white. When he left Sunday afternoon he was headed for my sister's in St. Joseph, Missouri a couple hours east. He decided to take a slightly different route back than when he went to that church because he thought it was a quicker way to whatever highway he needed to get to. Some miles down a gravel road he came across a sign which read, "Gravel road Ends". And he suddenly found himself on a dirt road, but kept going until he discovered the dirt had turned to mud. His car got deep into the mud and he was swerving and sliding until he was sure he was going to go into the ditch.

The problem here was, cell service was pretty slim to non-existent out there. If he went into the ditch he had no idea how he's get out with no way to call for help or even if he could call. Somehow he was able to stop the car, got out and found his tires covered with mud and the wheel wells were several inches deep in mud. He had to keep going, and got out of there, I haven't heard exactly how. When he got to a small town he found a self serve car wash and got the mud out of the wheel wells and off the tires.

This was one of the first times I've ever heard him say he'd been really scared. He is one of those who takes pictures with the phone held vertically which do not flip correctly when posting on websites. So, this is all I can do to show the photos he sent.

When I saw the tire photo he sent I thought at first his tire was shredded, but no, it was mud. When he called from my sister's I asked him if his GPS had sent him to that dirt road and he said, no. It had recommended a different way but he thought his way might have been quicker.  GPS almost always knows. Lesson learned.

A wreck of a morning

Watching the local news and following traffic reporters on Twitter, I noticed a lot of accidents being reported this morning. Some have been really bad. So what makes this day different from other days? Well, it was dark with clouds, thunder, lightning and rain early on in the rush hour and that may have played a part. Cars and trucks can't stop as fast and are apt to rear end the vehicle in front of them. Or slide into a guard rail.

Or, the dark, wet has drivers not being able to see the lane lines.

Whatever the reason, this has not been a good morning on the roads for St. Louis drivers.

6 month tally update

Here it is August, June and July went by in 5 minutes. This morning a ladder hit I-44 near Union. This brings the 7 month total of ladders and mattresses on the roads to a tie.

Mattresses 69

Ladders 69

A space survey

According to PEW Research, half of Americans believe space travel will become routine in the next 50 years but most are not interested in going. I'm one of those who has no desire to blast into space. Dale on the other hand, would go in a minute.

Here's a new traffic issue

From Rodger Brand, KMOX's traffic reporter: "OK, here's an odd one: A report of a raccoon with a can stuck on its head near West Outer and Miller roads. Use caution...

Also, an old issue. A mattress this morning along 141 near Romaine Creek.

Mattresses 66

Ladders 65

More Poplar work on the way

From IDOT, two eastbound lanes will be closed for two weeks in July for roadwork.

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced Monday that the eastbound exit ramp from Interstate 55/64 to southbound Illinois 3 will be closed as workers repair the surface of the ramp. The work begins early morning on July 15 and will last until July 29. A marked detour utilizing Barack Obama Avenue will be in place during the closure period.

To keep traffic flowing into Illinois, one lane will be closed on the Poplar Street Bridge along with two exit ramps. Missouri roadways will be impacted as well. In Missouri, the Marion Street entrance ramp to I-55 northbound and the right lane of I-55 northbound approaching the bridge will be closed. Three lanes of interstate traffic will remain open on the bridge and through the Illinois 3 and Tudor Avenue ramp areas.

They say to expect extensive delays, especially during evening rush hours.

Hot time, summer in the city, sitting on the bridge. Again.

Read more here: https://www.bnd.com/news/local/article232410317.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.bnd.com/news/local/article232410317.html#storylink=cpy

A new month, new tally

A mattress hit smack in the middle of the eastbound lanes of the Musial Veterans' Bridge.

Mattresses 64

Ladders 62

Whoops! Another mattress came onto another local highway today. This time on eastbound 44 near the Dome in downtown.

Mattresses 65

Ladders 62

Getting around takes a lot of patience these days

I can't begin to describe how awful it is to get from one place to another in the area we live around the seminary. It seems every conceivable type of road work is being done on surface streets and not just the main arteries, but connecting neighborhood streets as swell. Whatever company has the contract for making orange cones is doing very well this summer.

I've never seen so many orange cones in my life and now they are making them bigger, some are taller than me. You cannot get around any of this stuff these days to even get to Schnucks. Big Bend is a horror and Clayton road is competing for that honor. Try to go another way and you're stopped by side streets filled with orange cones. And the traffic backs up as the traffic lights are not synced.

And then try to get onto the interstate and find ramps partially closed with more cones.

There must be a lot of road construction money out there these days.