We have an island

The junction at the bottom of the hill has been undergoing an upgrade. Witch’s hat road cones all over the place, temporary traffic lights and a dozen workmen (all men) have clogged up the road for a few days while a new kerb and an island in the middle of the T-junction have been created.

Nobody in the village understands why. These are small roads with mostly farm traffic. The junction has good visibility in all directions. There have been no accidents since I’ve been here.

It must have been a costly bit of work.

I’m sure a roads engineer would tell me there are important reasons for adding urban features to a tiny rural village.

Seeing all the road cones reminds me of Chchch during and after the earthquakes, when they sprang up on every road in the region. And I really do mean every road. Millions of them. We filled them with flowers to soften the impact. Road cones and hiviz jackets always remind me of that time in Chchch. It wasn’t all bad either.