The Sherman Minton Bridge is one of the three bridges in our area that connects Indiana and Kentucky. On September 9th of last year a crack was found in the bridge and so it was closed indefinitely. It is now January 9th, 4 months later, and we are still waiting. I think it is supposed to be done in April or so, but until then we continue to deal with the repercussions of a closed bridge.
When the bridge first closed, rush hour traffic was horrendous. Rory works across the river from us, so this impacted him every morning and night. Rory had to leave for work before 6 to get there at a decent time before the worst of the traffic hit. If he didn't take that early bus then his travel time would triple or quadruple. After a few weeks the city seemed to have things a little more under control and the traffic was looking better. Rory was able to go to work a little later and make it at a decent time again. The situation was still not perfect, but it was looking better.
Well sometime in the past week a couple changes were made that I think were supposed to continue to help the situation. In reality, traffic just got worse than it was in the beginning! Rory drove to work on Friday because the buses are always really off schedule Friday afternoon and he hates waiting for them. Lucky for him he hit traffic and spent about 30 minutes just stopped in one place.
This morning Rory came in and woke me up and asked if I could give him a ride to work because the bus hadn't shown up. This new traffic change has thrown everything out of whack again. According to mapquest we live 4.59 miles from Rory's office. Not too far right? It took us almost an hour to get to Rory's office this morning. An hour to go less than 5 miles!! That's what happens when way too many people are trying to use just 2 bridges to get to work in the morning. At least it only took me 10 minutes to get back home after dropping Rory off because no one wants to come this direction in the morning. :)
There is a radio show in the morning that we sometimes listen to if we're in the car that early. They put together a hilarious song about the closure. Someone called in Friday morning and asked them if they would play it again because the traffic had gotten so bad again. At least I think it gave Rory a good laugh while he was stuck in traffic. I've attached a link to the song. I apologize in advance for the few bleeped swear words. You might think this song is exaggerating, but this is how you feel when you're stuck in that traffic! :)
Before bed my family always opens up a present. So after dinner Rory and I each opened one up. Rory got to open up the power drill his parents got him so that he could attach the heater we got to the wall in the baby's room. :)
Our first Christmas away from home was great! It helped to have Rory's parents with us to help us celebrate. We did have to take them back to the airport at 1:30, but it was fun to have them there for the weekend. Rory and I are excited to have a third member of our family next Christmas! I can't wait until I can buy our little guy Christmas presents! :) I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!