Door No. 2
"The life you have led does not need to be the only life you have." -Anna Quindlen

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You don't have to spend loads of time and money to experience something amazing.  Sometimes an adventure is just outside your door.  These are some of the beautiful things that we have found, here in our own little corner of the world. 

You don't have to spend loads of time and money to experience something amazing.  Sometimes an adventure is just outside your door.  These are some of the beautiful things that we have found, here in our own little corner of the world. 

Bridgepocalypse: The Day 40,000 Alaskans Were Late to Work

Every day I drive the 27 miles from my home in Palmer to the physical therapy clinic where I work in Eagle River.  It's quite a nice drive most days - 10 miles on a windy two lane road between the river and the mountain, then onto the Glenn Highway for a smooth ride to the North Eagle River exit.  Some days, when it's snowy and traffic slows down, I'll skip the traffic and get off the highway a couple of exits early, taking the two lane Old Glenn Highway right to the clinic door.  But a couple of weeks ago there was an incident which brought the Alaska highway infrastructure to its knees; an incident that was immediately dubbed "Bridgepocalypse".  

On a Wednesday, in the early afternoon, a truck carrying an over-height modular building hit the South Eagle River overpass, causing quite a bit of damage.  The modular building splintered like a box made of toothpicks, and one of the concrete trusses of the overpass was cracked and crumbling.  The southbound lanes heading into Anchorage were immediately shut down and re-routed through the town of Eagle River - roughly 4.5 miles through the business district with stoplights at nearly every intersection.  This was okay on Wednesday afternoon with the small amount of traffic headed to Anchorage.  But then came Thursday morning and the 40,000 commuters who travel from their homes in the Mat-su Valley to their workplaces in Anchorage on the only main artery into the city.  The ONLY other option is to go through Eagle River.   

I set my alarm clock early on Thursday morning and gave myself an extra 45 minutes to get to work.  Looking back at my extra 45 minutes I can't help but think "oh honey, that's cute".  It. Was. A disaster.  The road was free and clear for the first 22 miles and I was feeling good! Until traffic came to a sudden and complete stop. 

Those last five miles to work took four and a half hours. Yes, you read that right.  Four and a half HOURS.  To cover 5 miles.  I listened to 8 podcasts, drank a mug of tea, ate two thirds of my lunch, and attempted a version of car yoga that was fairly unsuccessful.  

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I don't know if the folks at the Department of Transportation and the local decision makers underestimated the impact the highway closure would have, or if they just didn't have time to implement a plan, but regardless, there was a sea of Alaskans out there together with no choice but to wait, or turn around and go home.  There were certainly those who grew extraordinarily irritable and fumed on social media about what an injustice had been done unto them, but the voices of a community coming together to share humor and help (in a really ridiculous situation) were louder.  

There were:

  • kids who couldn't make it to school that set up roadside coffee stands
  • someone in a T-rex costume dancing on a bridge with a sign saying "you're almost there"
  • a couple guys in blaze orange hats and lawn chairs along the side of the road with a sign saying "hang in there"
  • a guy in a recliner in a truck bed drinking beer and waving
  • people stopping for a quick roadside bathroom break after having finished their morning coffee too soon
  • someone in a turtle costume walking along the road and beating everyone to their destination
  • posts on the local traffic report Facebook page providing contact information for commuters to use this time to reach out to their local representatives for much needed alternate transportation projects such as a commuter train or a bridge across the inlet - projects which have historically been discussed and turned down
  • witty memes created
  • entrepreneurs advertising newly designed T-shirts and bumper stickers celebrating the survival of Bridgepocalypse

The way the community as a whole chose solidarity over angry outburst, made me smile and reignited some hope in humanity.  Despite not making it to the clinic until lunch time, my coworkers (who come from the other direction and had no problem getting to work) were very understanding, and most of my patients were stuck in the same traffic I was anyway.  

Thankfully, by Friday the DOT had come up with a more reasonable temporary solution, and by Monday the highway was fully open to traffic once more, making Bridgepocalypse 2018 a brief but memorable disaster.  

AlaskaNicole TombersstoryComment