Picture it: You wake up at 7 a.m. School starts at 7:35 a.m. You rush to get ready, brushing your teeth and getting dressed, then hopping into the car.
Speeding down the highway, you think you might make it, until all of a sudden, you notice traffic is starting to slow down and comes to a halt.
Yet another construction site.
Due to the huge growth North Idaho has seen in the past couple of years, there is a great amount of road construction being done to help accommodate it.
According to the Idaho Department of Transportation, Highway 53 in Rathdrum is adding a turning lane in between lanes. Due to this one spot, “drivers can still expect congestion from late summer through early fall.”
The construction on the highway is not the end of it either. Meyer Road was closed for most of the summer due to the construction of a roundabout. Nagel Lane was also closed for several months in front of the intersections of Nagel and Highway 41. Taking the highway was not an option; instead, traveling on Ohio Street or east on Nagel Lane were the only options.
Many staff members and students at Lakeland High School can recognize that even though it is a necessity for the community to keep growing, the pain of road construction has been pretty overwhelming.
John Keating, a teacher at LHS, runs into two different construction sites on his way to work.
Due to traffic from construction, Keating has to leave about five to ten minutes earlier in order to make it to work on time.
The most frustrating part for Keating is knowing how long his trip should take him and comparing it to the actual amount of time it takes to get somewhere due to construction.
“It drives you crazy because you know how quick it could be, and the construction drives me nuts,” Keating said.
If he has to, he will change his route in order to avoid road construction.
Jordan Bucaroff, a senior at LHS, has grown quite frustrated with all the construction in the area.
Due to construction, Bucaroff has been late on several different occasions. One example of this was a fundraiser for LHS at Red Robin, and Bucaroff was held up by traffic. Since Bucaroff was running late, he sped and ended up getting a speeding ticket, trying to make it to the event on time.
“It blocks off everything and slows down stuff,” Bucaroff said. “Nobody wants construction, but it needs to happen, especially here.”
Although Bucaroff always feels frustrated when being stopped in traffic, he has to remind himself that it needs to be done because the North Idaho area has seen an immense amount of growth in the past few years. However, he does feel like too much road construction is happening at once.
Another student who frequently runs into traffic is Kyla Holte. Holte passes at least one construction site a day.
It can get very annoying for her when it affects her plans.
“I understand it, but it makes it so much harder, it adds extra time,” Holte said.
It has made Holte late on several occasions, but she has earned to accommodate and leave earlier.
