More Armpit

Today, I took the camera with me and filmed 3 minutes of my commute. One reason I did it today is that this evening, 7 miles of the southbound freeway is closed, including the part I filmed. When I head into the office on Monday, it will be a massive construction zone adding a carpool lane. I think the carpool lane is project is one reason why the median wasn’t really decorated. If the portion already under construction is any indication, the median will be just a concerete wall. I hope not gray.

As Kosmo noted in yesterday’s comments, the first time you see the freeways here is an experience that isn’t really captured by the film. Unfortunately, I was fighting a weak battery and I didn’t quite make it to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. I wanted to show you the statue when you cross into their territory. It has the Great Seal, which you can find by following the above link.

One of the bridges I go under is Cactus Road, the interchange with lizards in the aerial view. Later, as I go past Shea Boulevard, you can see one unit of Scottsdale’s six freeway photo-radar installations. I’m told these were the first ever on a freeway.

The cable barriers in the median are not especially effective. There have been several accidents with a vehicle getting to the other side. Well, those cables were actually an afterthought. There was nothing there when the freeway first opened. The concrete wall after the carpool lanes are finished will likely save some lives, and probably take a few, too. Life’s dangerous, eh?

I expect I’ll take the camera again next week and film roughly the same stretch so you can see our lovely construction. It’s everywhere you go out here. I guess that’s the result of the inflated property tax revenues caused by guys who are now being arrested. (I’m waiting for oil guys to go to jail, but that’s a story for another day.)