Play it cool in summer traffic

Traveling east or west on Highway 210/Washington Street is a major pain these days. Motorists have to dodge traffic cones, heavy equipment and road workers as heavy, summer traffic is compressed into one lane in each direction.

With congestion comes frustration and frustrated drivers, such as those waiting to make a left turn or pull onto a busy Washington Street, often take foolish chances and risk accidents.

Todays message is a plea for patience. As bad as anyones driving day might be going it will only get worse if frustration results in that person being involved in an accident.

Slow down as you drive through the road construction zone. No appointment is worth endangering your life, the life of other motorists or the life of a road construction worker. Road workers are laboring under difficult conditions: hot weather, strenuous work and occasional inattentive drivers. They have it much tougher than those who are just impatiently waiting in traffic on their way to a dentist appointment.

Reducing their speed and paying attention to their driving are the two most important actions drivers can take to reduce the chances that theyll end up in an accident. So, happy trails and heres hoping the majority of your road trips in the Brainerd area this year will be north-south and not east-west.