Friday, November 15, 2013

Rush Hour in the Desert

by Pa Rock
Driver

Interstate 10 is a marvelous ribbon of concrete that connects Jacksonville, Florida, to Los Angeles, California - crossing eight states along the way.  It is also one of the most traveled thoroughfares across Phoenix.  During mid-day or late in the evening it is quite convenient to zip from the extreme West Valley to the airport and beyond by using the Ten.  The rush hours, however - morning and evening - are quite another story.

The many lanes of the Ten are packed heading into Phoenix in the morning, and away from Phoenix in the late afternoon - and I am just about always heading the wrong way.  If I am going to Sky Harbor Airport, more often than not it will be for a morning flight.  To get to the airport, I have to drive fifteen miles or so on the Ten - toward downtown Phoenix and then a few miles beyond.  And the return trip, of course, usually occurs during the height of the afternoon rush hour - heading out toward the West Valley and away from downtown Phoenix.

The trips are usually slow, bumper-to-bumper, unless there is a wreck along the way - and then "slow" doesn't even begin to describe it!

Today I attended some social work training in Mesa and managed to land smack in the middle of both rush hours.  It wasn't fun, but I did relieve some stress by daydreaming about rush hour was going to be like in West Plains.    Then I remembered that even rural America has traffic issues.  Traffic congestion in the Ozarks is a line of cars trying to get around a farmer on a tractor (or tourists in an RV) on a twisting, two-lane road.

As Gilda Radner used to say, "It's always something!"

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