Ripping Up 19th Street Right Before School Started Might Have Been a Bad Idea

If you've driven on 19th Street near Texas Tech University and Lubbock High School in the last couple of weeks, I'm sorry.

The ongoing road construction paired with the traffic carrying new college and high school students to and from school has become a massive problem. I see a different person complain about their commute on Facebook every single day.

It might not have been a good idea to start that repair at the beginning of the school year, but alas, the $25.69 million project soldiers on. It's only going to take 3 years to complete. No big deal, right?

Speed limits have decreased to around 10 mph in areas that are currently under construction, so make sure you avoid speeding and slow down when workers are present. It's not their fault the city chose the busiest time of the year to start a major project, but I guess if it's going to take 3 years, then there really is no good time to begin, is there?

The best thing coming out of this construction is sidewalks for pedestrians and cyclists to use. Lubbock only has a couple of bike lanes, and if they aren't willing to add more, sidewalks are the next best thing.

It's really a shame we don't have bike lanes all over town, especially since we have such a huge number of people using bikes for everyday transportation. It can be really dangerous for bikers out there. Maybe in the future, Lubbock will see fit to spend a couple million on that. Here's to hoping.