My daily drive typically begins when I depart from my house and head to the school. I enter through the junior high entrance and park in the tennis parking lot. When lunch begins, I leave through the senior high entrance, turn right on Wildcat Way, ride down the hill to Theatre St., cross Route 30, and continue on Theatre St. until I reach “The Intersection.”
Personal complaints and comments about “The Intersection” include: why is it a 5-way intersection? Why are these two legs separated from the other three? Why is there a tree blocking the view of Theatre St. from Mission Rd. East and Monastery Dr. South? What are you doing? (description of a random person). Who’s the idiot who designed this? Get the courage and move, slowpoke! I’ll find the absolute psychopath who thought this was a good idea, and I would personally examine his singular brain cell to learn how this one brain cell could be dumber than all the other single brain cells I’ve come across in my lifetime. My two questions to the construction crew would be: “Why did you build this intersection?” and “Why didn’t you say something?” And finally, why can’t it be symmetric?
Deep breath
Intersections are typically defined as places where multiple roads intersect or cross, allowing cars to turn onto different roads. There are generally three types of intersections in the U.S.: three-leg, four-leg, and multi-leg intersections. The latter, a multi-leg intersection, is the type of intersection that “The Intersection” is.
“The Intersection” is made up of Monastery Dr., Mission Rd., and Theatre St. Having three roads converge in a single intersection is not unheard of, with such terrifying examples as MA-37 & Franklin St. in Braintree, MA, Murray Ave. in Pittsburgh, PA, and Brookline Ave. in Boston, MA.
I often like to make suggestions and state my opinions, even if they fall on deaf ears, result in nasty backlash, or lead to insults for suggesting what some might consider a dumb idea. I don’t care for this type of response, nor do I like it, but nonetheless, I would like to share my opinion and a suggestion.
I would first suggest that we put a roundabout here. A roundabout would be a simple fix to the problem that the five-way intersection presents. It would allow for the continuous flow of traffic by giving right of way to those already in the roundabout. By changing the rules of “The Intersection” with the addition of a roundabout, more cars would spend less time waiting, thanks to the continuous nature of roundabouts, rather than the stop-and-go situation at “The Intersection.”
However, the problem with implementing a roundabout is that there is probably not enough space, despite the intersection appearing large. “The Intersection” is rather small, and the only way I can see a roundabout being implemented is if land is taken from the nearby houses or if the houses are outright removed. This will not happen. The American spirit of these homeowners will not allow them to give up a single inch, even if they are compensated by the city, state, or government. The only way I can imagine homeowners giving up anything is if there are no homeowners or if they are offered an exorbitant amount of money to leave. This, too, will not happen.
To sum up, the worst intersection in Latrobe is a 5-way between Monastery Dr., Mission Rd., and Theatre St. Coming across “The Intersection” may invoke aggressive comments. With no improvements in sight and the hope of a roundabout stifled by the surprisingly small size of “The Intersection,” frustration reigns.
