I thought it would take a week at most.

A construction project I thought would take a week on the road (32nd Ave.) that my family depends on to get place-to-place has lasted all summer.

As the 2025-26 school year concluded, one of those temporary digital signs showed up on the west end of 32nd Ave. in Spokane Valley. The sign read “road closure” with a June date. This particular street leads into the main entrance of our neighborhood and is heavily traveled by us on a daily basis.

I kept the road closure date in mind, knowing that it would add time to my commute and that I would have to utilize a detour. But I could handle the inconvenience for a week.

Well, on the eve of classes starting for many school districts, including the high school that is literally on 32nd Ave., the road project still isn’t complete. It has been two months.

Portions of 32nd Ave. in Spokane Valley are still blocked off as road construction continues.

What a messy, unpredictable ordeal. It seemed like the detour that ushered us through a random residential street (oh, those neighbors must have been so thrilled!) was annoying enough but when the bulk of the road construction literally took up residence right at the main entrance of our neighborhood, things got especially hectic. We couldn’t even access the established detour anymore as we were relegated to using the back entrance of our neighborhood just to reach pavement that was not blocked by traffic cones and heavy machinery.

You know what the most infuriating thing is? Before the construction started, I couldn’t tab a single thing that was wrong about 32nd Ave. And guess what? Now that the project is nearing completion and I can actually drive on a portion of the street, I can’t really tell what was done during the two months that it was closed.

The main entrance to our neighborhood is still closed due to road construction.

But perhaps this summer’s road construction is a metaphor. In life, we can sometimes go about our daily routine with an outward appearance that everything is okay when inwardly things are not. It is sometimes necessary to “get off the road” and work on yourself for a period of time. Once personal maintenance has been done, the motivation to get back on the road is present again. However, it is very possible that others sharing the road might not recognize the internal improvements made.

So I am going to trust that the work done on 32nd Ave. this summer was not in vain. I am not a transportation engineer much in the same way that I am not an expert at reading others. Perhaps it is wise to always give the benefit of the doubt. Don’t Blink.