Road Construction in Downtown Billings is Ridiculous

As if traffic at the intersection of Montana Ave and 27th Street wasn't already congested enough, things went from bad to worse today when construction crews closed lanes on First Avenue in Downtown Billings.

It's bad enough that we have to wait for the trains to cross on 27th. Then, there's the painstakingly slow progress of the parking garage, which still isn't done.  Today, they tore up 27th Street and 1st Avenue.  And, just to add insult to injury, they shut down two blocks of 1st Avenue, both north and south of 27th.

Why would anyone in their right mind bring traffic to a stand still with two road construction projects on the same block?  Their timing is impeccable.  The Farmer's Market is coming up tomorrow and thousands of people are in town for the Big Sky State Games.  Either they don't know what they're doing, or they don't care. I suspect it's a little of both.

Of course, if they really cared about easing congestion, they'd work during the evening hours, when there's half as many cars downtown.  The construction workers would probably prefer the night shift over working in the heat all day. Then again, that would make entirely too much sense.