Columbus Road Construction: WTF

Note (Nov 2026): I used to swear a lot more in casual speech. Shortly before my first child was born, I read Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, which inspired me to clean up my language. I rarely swear now. I left this essay untouched because editing it now would feel disingenuous; this is how my younger self talked.

What is going on in Columbus? I can’t drive 50 fucking feet without some massive construction project being done on the road. Is it really necessary to be doing all of these at the same time? And what in god’s name can possible be taking so long? The I71 was supposed to be 3 lanes from Cincy through Cbus to Cleveland 10 years ago. In fact, I’m nearly certain that pipe dream of a project has been going on since before I lived here in 1998.

While it may be worthwhile when it’s finished, I simply wonder: when will it be finished? Like…all of it. When will I be able to drive from New Albany to Hilliard to Powell to Grove City and back to my Victorian Village home without having to avoid an army of orange cones?