Construction dangerous for workers, drivers

The construction on First Avenue (east) is absolutely ridiculous. I have witnessed at least five near-accidents by the Best Buy area where they have us weaving from the left lane to the right, and back to the left again, with about 75 yards notice. Then, I try to get on to First Avenue from a side street and am prevented from doing so because it is blocked, with no sign warning road closed ahead or anything.

I understand that they need to work on the road, but the times they work are not very well thought out either. The 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. rush hours are not safe times to be driving the loud machines around, where the workers cannot hear what's going on around them. Take the poor man who was backed over by a dump truck a couple of months ago for example.

It is not only dangerous for workers, but also the cars and the pedestrians. This project has only gone on long enough, and it is only going to get worse with the soon approaching snow and ice.

Jensen Burian

Marion