What If They Opened a Highway, and Nobody Came?

Yesterday the slowpokes widening Route 3 announced the first section to have all three lanes (and two shoulders) opened, which was Route 3 northbound, between Drum Hill (Route 4) and the New Hampshire border.

I was very pleased, as I usually go home by driving up to Drum Hill through Chelmsford side roads to get onto Route 3, rather than trying to go through the four-lanes-becoming-two-lanes nightmare currently at the 495 interchange.

So, I got the e-mail notice yesterday, but discovered that almost no one was actually using the newly-opened right lane. I guess that most people did not know the lane was opened, and definitely did not know that it was open all the way to New Hampshire.

In a related effect, we have been waiting all summer for the paving to be finished over the railroad grade crossing in Nashua that is on our way to church in Litchfield. The grade crossing was in such a bad condition that any speed over about 1 MPH would virtually guarantee significant damage to one’s vehicle. Well, a few days ago, they finally finished the top coat paving, making the grade crossing passable for the first time in months. However, people are so conditioned to driving over it at extremely slow speeds, that they are still doing so.

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