Road Work Week

Not sure how bad this is in other parts of the county/world, but in Michigan the rigors of winter are too much for the roads, and in summer, you can't swing a flocking road cone without hitting a road construction site. It dramatically increases commute time, brings traffic to a standstill, and the temporary passages are often quite dangerous-looking. And, Having to work alongside a steady stream of exhaust-spewing vehicles, peopled by anxious, irate drivers, has got to take a toll on the workers, as well. While the road work can not be avoided, it would be nice if it could be done when there is little to no traffic. But when is there a sufficiently large space of time with a sufficiently small supply of traffic to make this happen?

I propose we take a week out of the summer somewhere, probably late July/early August, during which nobody drives anywhere. Blue-collar workers (with the exception of road workers) get the week off, white-collar workers may take off the week, or telecommute, depending on their job and company policy. Mass transit and supplier vehicles would still be allowed to operate, for those who NEED to get somewhere and to keep stores stocked, but driving a personal car would be frowned upon (think wearing white on labor day, only more so), as would forcing a person to do so. In short, traffic would be kept to an absolute minimum.

During this time, road work would be performed as many hours a day as is reasonably possible. Rather than make the regular crews work extra hours, companies could hire on a lot of temporary and entry-level help. This would allow anyone trying to get into the business a good opening. With almost no traffic, working conditions would be much safer, and (due to the decrease in vehicle exhaust) healthier than normal.

And, of course, what holiday would be complete without themed events? For Road Work Week, I imagine such greats as "Pave Your Own Tarmac," where people find a 3' x 3' section of a road they frequent, and are guided by professionals through the myriad intricacies of rebuilding and maintaining it. You could also have newspaper articles and lectures on road-related topics, such as "The History of Roads," "Road Technology in the 21st Century," "What is asphalt really made of?", and many more. There could also be miscellaneous fun events like Catcall Contests, Blue Collar Fashion Shows, and hardhat decorating for the kids.