Dealing with Growing Pains

Whenever a huge construction project gets underway, one thing is certain ... someone or several someones are going to be unhappy about it. Let’s face it, no one – myself included – likes to see heavy machinery when they look out their window. And barricades that prevent people from getting from point A to point B in a straight line are simply a nuisance. But that’s the hand that the people of Arcadia have been dealt this summer.

In order for a city or town to be the best that it possibly can be, these are necessary evils that we must deal with as a community. And I can certainly empathize with those whose businesses are bearing the brunt of the inaccessibility. As it turns out, I live in an upstairs apartment along Main Street right next to Anytime Fitness. Needless to say, I share your pain. While I have grown accustomed to the hustle and bustle of Main Street since I moved here, I am really starting to miss the days when the loudest noises I heard were Ashley and Gold’n Plump trucks rumbling by. Now replaced with backhoes digging, trucks hauling and the incessant beeping, warning of heavy machinery in full reverse mode, it’s not surprising why there are times when I want to just scream at the top of my lungs.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a morning person. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m pretty much useless before my first mug – or two – of coffee. But I’ll be damned if those construction workers aren’t trying to change that. So, when crews first started tearing up Main Street one morning just over a week ago, I was startled into awake – not because of the noise, but because the entire house was shaking and the windows were rattling. If I hadn’t known any better, I could have sworn I was living on a fault line and I had just survived my first earthquake. Not so much.

While I had considered for a split-second, actually waking up, hopping in the shower and heading into work early, I took one look at my clock – it was only 7 a.m. – and changed my mind. While it didn’t completely block out the noise, I put the earbuds of my iPod in my ears and tried desperately to fall back to sleep. This has become a daily routine for me, it seems, but I deal with it. Then, of course, there’s the daily question of “how am I going to get out of the driveway today?” With so much going on in front of the house, it’s oftentimes difficult to actually just drive out to the street. So there I am, driving over lawns, dodging trees and shrubs, using the neighbor’s driveway ... it becomes more of a game than an inconvenience. Either way, I know it will all be over before long and I will be able to go back to life as usual.

And that’s exactly what people need to realize. This inconvenience is only temporary. As the old saying goes, you have to take the good with the bad. Once the intersection is complete, everyone can rest assured that the downtown area will be much more inviting and aesthetically pleasing ... not to mention how much more functional and safer it will be with the heavy traffic flow. So the next time you find yourself growing irate over the mayhem going on downtown, just take a deep breath and try to picture the end result. These are just growing pains we must deal with in order for Arcadia to be more.

Jennie Oemig,
Editor
Arcadia News-Leader