The construction near the mall is such a mess. People here already struggle when it comes to driving and it seems like they forget everything they ever learned about driving when they come upon this construction. 

I don’t go to the mall that often. My main reason for even going that direction is Dollar (and a quarter) Tree and Wendy’s. Since I don’t go very often, I usually forget about the massive mess at the red light. I understand when construction is finished it will likely be great. I know it has to suck for a while before it can be improved; however, I am still going to complain about it. 

When construction first started, the biggest confusion was when you turn right and end up at the red light in front of the mall. There was one tiny sign that stated the left lane was for those going straight or turning left and the right lane was only for those turning right. Easy enough, right? No. People in the right lane would go straight and essentially race and cut off the person going straight in the left lane. I don’t know if a bigger sign or common sense would have been the solution to that mess.

A few weeks ago I was almost hit by someone running the red light at that intersection. She was coming toward town from Rock Island and just decided it would be fun to ignore the red light. I was turning left at the light and started going when the light turned green. She came speeding along and slammed her breaks and came to a stop essentially in the middle of the intersection. I beeped my horn at her because, I mean, figure it out lady. 

After almost getting hit, I went on my way, but the lady wasn’t over it. She proceeded to speed up and follow very closely behind me. Like, I’m sorry YOU almost hit me, but you don’t need to be passive aggressive about it. I cannot stand when someone gets mad about something that was their fault. It happens a lot. I often beep my horn at people who aren’t paying attention at green lights. I wait the appropriate couple of seconds then beep to let them know to go. These people almost always aggressively speed away. 

Speaking of driving complaints, I am still unhappy about the downtown delineators, also known as the white things in the road near Hardees. I love the idea of delineators, but I hate how nobody understands them. People still come to a complete stop when they approach them. The purpose is to keep traffic from coming into the oncoming lane. That’s it. You don’t have to stop. There’s not a stop sign. There’s not a merge sign. You just go. It is that simple. 

If you are planning on visiting the mall area prepare to be annoyed and potentially get in a car crash. Hopefully they get it done soon. Like I said, I’m sure it will be wonderful once it is done, but until then I choose to be annoyed. 

Standard reporter Bethany Porter can be reached at (931) 473-2191.