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Orange traffic barrels seem to sprout like weeds around here. Hundreds of thousands of the striped sentinels are out there on our roads every day, putting the brakes on already tangled traffic.
Brace for even more when stimulus money kick-starts a raft of road projects.
Perhaps it's time to cut the cursing. Accept our lot. Embrace the big brother of the traffic cone.
After all, the barrels are standing guard, funneling a whooshing river of vehicles safely around work zones, protecting life on both sides.
Not feeling the love?
"Most people just dislike the product," said Dave Cowan, a Cleveland manufacturer who sells orange barrels in Virginia. "When you're stuck in traffic, what do you see?"
It's a bad rap. The object of your annoyance is only doing its job. Its presence is required by a 760-page federal bible titled the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Along with other specifics, the manual orders barrels to appear formidable enough to "command the respect of road users."
Each one is expected to survive at least 10 impacts at 60 mph.
And we whine about them?
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"Ole Barrel"
Ooops!
I miswrote a line. The line should read: You stand without complaining!
"Ole Barrel"
"Ole Barrell" you are orange, round, and stand as a sentinal of safety.
You stand during cold rainy days, heat of summer, and during hurricanes. You stand with accomplaint. When you are placed to narrow the roaday. Motorist rush pass you at speeds as if in a NASCAR race. But, you do save lives and your round body bears the scares and dents of an accident. "Ole Barrel" we should salute you for saving the lives of highway workers and the motoring public. "Salute!"
Stimulus road Projects - What a Joke!
As a VDOT contractor, the only road stimulus projects that have come out for this area are PAVING - maybe 6 jobs. Big deal - no help for us struggling small businesses.