Nelsonville traffic at a standstill

Last Saturday the U.S. highway was down to one lane at the southeast edge of town where the bypass is being built and traffic was backed up for more than five miles, leaving motorists inching forward as if they were in a traffic jam on the Washington, D.C. beltway.

Apparently, the construction crews were putting in a new culvert and, of course, had to do the work during the day to make as much of an inconvenience to motorists as possible.

A telephone call to the Athens County Sheriff's Office Monday morning revealed the road was again blocked due to bypass-related construction.

I always wonder why road-related construction cannot be done at night when traffic is at its lightest and motorists would be inconvenienced the least.

Of course, I see the same type of situations happen in Parkersburg when work is done on Grand Central Avenue during peak traffic-usage times, instead of at night.

So, if you're going to go through Nelsonville, I would strongly suggest calling Sheriff Pat Kelly's office at (740) 593-6633 and asking about road blockages. ... a quick telephone call could save you hours in backed up traffic and high blood pressure.