While road crews are working to improve driving conditions in Montgomery County and Winona, motorists are growing more frustrated with the inconvenience of road work.
Some local drivers are concerned with how the road work is affecting the morning and evening commute to and from Winona Elementary.
Congestion on Mississippi Highway 51 in the area of the repairs near a convenience store is sparking ongoing safety concerns for pedestrians and drivers.
“It’s not enough we don’t have a crossing guard,” said one motorist, who also is a parent of a child attending the school.
She added that she and other drivers are forced to detour into residential areas just to go to work in the morning and to pick up their children in the afternoon.
Another local parent said she is afraid there is going to be an accident in the stretch, beginning just south of Summit Street and continuing to Mississippi Highway 407.
“There is no warning, just cones,” she said.
A number of motorists are irritated about how road work has affected traffic on Middleton Road near the intersection with Highway 51.
Several drivers all but refused to exit the turning lane on the highway when crew workers motioned for them to continue driving north on Highway 51 in search of a detour.
Other motorists were forced to detour from the road while traveling east from Mississippi Highway 82.
A traveler, not familiar with the area, admitted she did not know where her detour would take her, compelling her to merely follow the truck in front of her.
Motorists are also complaining of a closed turning lane on Highway 51 at the Summit Street intersection due to work on Summit Street west of Highway 51.
However, road work woes are not limited to Winona, as Duck Hill residents are being forced to drive all the way to Winona or Elliot in an effort to reach Interstate 55.
Due to ongoing bridge work on Mississippi Highway 404, Duck Hill residents and local motorists have to travel to Elliot, get on Interstate 55 and then take the Highway 404 exit just to visit a home that is ordinarily just “a few doors down the road.”
Some residents on Highway 404 east of Highway 51 have been complaining about arriving to work late due to stopped traffic brought on by road work.
While the work is proving to be inconvenient and in some cases infuriating, the repairs must continue for our benefit. Yes, we all look forward to reaping the rewards of improvements to local roadways, but we must first endure the pains of growth.
