Hurry Up and Wait

I commute to the office along River Road each day. Recently, the traffic - almost always heavy from September (post-Labor Day) until school's out (June) - has been a bit more intense, slowed considerably by some sort of public works project in Potomac Village.

Initially the work crew was working feverishly in October. They placed Jersey walls to divert traffic, and dug up the pavement. It appeared that they were going to place enormous sections of plastic piping under the road (?) to carry storm runoff or perhaps channel an existing stream. Whatever their intent, an unintended consequence has been the increase in traffic as drivers slow to maneuver through the Jersey wall chicane that's been erected.

Whereas work appeared intense and urgent in the early part of the fall, it's now completely stopped! The huge plastic pipe sections sit idle on the shoulder of the road, and there hasn't been a worker seen on the site in weeks! What's up with that? What at first appeared so urgent now appears to have been completely forgotten. Large sections of pavement remain torn up and unpaved. Straw is spread across those now-exposed sections of former roadway. A large shipping container sits idle nearby.

A few questions immediately come to mind: if this project was so urgent just two months ago, why has it suddenly become less urgent today? What happened to work crews? Were they pulled off to work on a more pressing project? Why did the MoCo public works folks wait until fall (traditionally a period of intense traffic on River Road during commuting hours) to initiate this project, instead of during the summer when traffic along this route is relatively light? Most importantly, when will this project resume and reach completion?

I haven't a clue, and I'm too lazy to start dunning the MoCo public works bureaucrats for answers. Anybody know what's the dealio?

Follow Up - Nov 30, 2006

Sent an email to the folks at the MoCo public works department, who responded quickly. They said that since both River and Falls Roads are numbered roads, they fall under the jurisdiction of the Maryland State Highway Administration (the things I learn!). Anyway, they graciously forwarded my note to the proper authorities and I'm sitting here awaiting their reply. More when I hear from them....