How? Take one trip through "Hamburger Hill" on any given Sunday, and you'll quickly see how much nicer it is to spend the afternoon at home, watching baseball on TV and popping three-day-old Doritos in your mouth.
Well, maybe not "nicer." But certainly safer.
Sunday is Church Day and many church-goers believe in miracles. But the only miracle I've seen as of late is that no one has been killed or seriously injured in the traffic congestion near the Tanger Factory Outlet Center Drivers Training Course.
Yet.
If you do not use Exit 212 on a regular basis, you might not be aware of what I'm talking about. You're also a lot smarter than most of us drivers, who have to battle with one of the most wicked stretches of road I've ever had the misfortune to travel.
Every weekend, I pass through this area. Or, at least, i used to. Now, if I want to hit I-75, I often go through downtown West Branch and catch Exit 215. For three extra miles, of highway, it's worth the trip.
Why? Simple. Exit 212 is a death trap waiting to happen. It is unorganized. It is crowded. It is dangerous. Combining these factors with some of the most insanely stupid driving possible is nothing less than moronic.
You have a mall and a handful of businesses with parking lot that basically empty out into one spot in the road. Nearby are I-75's exit and entrance ramps.
Add thousands of cars - many pulling boats and trailers - and you get the picture of what it is like to travel this stretch.
With all of this traffic - especially on weekends - you would think maybe, just maybe, someone would have figured a traffic light or two might have been a good idea.
Well, that idea is in the works. Finally, We have Cook Road being repaved and repainted, giving area drivers three lanes along the Hill - one each westbound and eastbound, and a center lane for left-handed turns into any of the stores or restaurants in the area.
Now, this doesn't mean we have more roadway to work with. It just means that (a) we don't have to wait 15 minutes while the most defensive drivers wait for an opening larger than an 18-wheeler to appear, and (b) there will hopefully be fewer maniac drivers sliding into the shoulder to pass said defensive drivers.
But what about a traffic light? Well, the Michigan Department of Transportation recently conducted an intensive survey, which could result in a traffic light.
By next July. Maybe.
The survey took place during mid-week traffic, which is like estimating the Detroit Lions' Super Bowl potential after watching them gang up on the pathetic new England Patriots during one drive of a pre-season game. It's lousy, backward timing.
Someone should have known traffic would be this bad. Why do a survey, when it was obvious from Day One that a traffic light would be needed?
Actions speak louder than surveys. I realize there are guidelines and requirements and all that other stuff. Numbers are needed. But at the same time, we're left with a time bomb ticking away in West Branch Township.
It's enough to ruin a Sunday afternoon drive.
This article originally appeared in the Ogemaw County Herald.
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