Last week, I had an unpleasant surprise.
I was in my car and wanted to drop by the Food Lion I patronize because it is on the south side of the major thoroughfare in my exburban region. I’ve been going there for ten years and I also drop off my dry cleaning and get my car lubed or repaired in the same nondescript strip mall. Doing so lets me avoid the traffic congestion on Hull Street Road in Chesterfield County, one of the fastest-growing and most traffic-congested suburbs in the Richmond area and the state.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. A new Honda dealership had been going up for months. As part of its completion, road crews were erecting a median strip on the secondary, feeder road that used to take me home quickly and easily. With the new strip preventing me from making a left-hand turn, I would now have to drive three or four extra miles or spend long, aggravating minutes at Hull Street’s notoriously long stop lights.
So, I explored the situation and was surprised to learn that the fix had been in for a decade or so and few knew about it. Here’s the my commentary about it in Richmond’s alternative publication Style Weekly, where I work part-time as a contributing editor.
Peter Galuszka