Roadwork should be made less painful

With all due respect to highway construction workers, the state of Illinois, President Obama and our elected officials, is it necessary to besiege the entire Chicago area with layer upon layer of work zones?

On a bright, beautiful Friday, I decided to take my mother from Rolling Meadows to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside to see her family's grave site. Both Route 53 and 290 were under heavy construction. For miles, these major connecting highways were down to two lanes of meandering madness.

Then in an awful move of ignorance, I decided to take Route 83 south where I immediately ran into an unintended parking lot. What logical person drops a three-lane highway (a main north-south artery) down to one lane? It took us 40 minutes to get from the off ramp at 83 to St. Charles Road.

I wanted to go farther south on 83 to Roosevelt Road, but what mess that was. So I turned east on St. Charles and ultimately ran into more construction, more delays. I gave up and took side streets the rest of the way.

It's common to encounter construction delays during the summer; however, it shouldn't take two and a half hours to go from Rolling Meadows to Hillside.

This sudden influx of capital to put people to work and restore a crumbling highway and road system is causing more damage than is being repaired. Businesses are losing millions of dollars, tourists are shaking their heads in wonderment and Chicagoans like me are astonished at the lack of planning and direction.

I certainly hope those politicians in charge of this civic debacle heed the words of a registered voter, because come next election, I'm looking for someone who can fix our roads without vastly disrupting our social and professional lives.

Gary Lukens

Rolling Meadows