An Open Letter To Drivers On Western Avenue In Augusta

Over the nearly six years that I have lived in the Augusta area, I have driven hundreds of miles on Western Avenue.  With the exception of a few vacations and a couple of quarantine periods, I have driven the street every day.  Many of the places I go on a regular basis are on, or just off, Western Avenue.  The radio station, restaurants, stores, etc.

For those who are not familiar with Augusta, Western Avenue is one of the main arteries into the city.  If you're coming from the southern part of the state, or from Lewiston / Auburn / Winthrop, you're probably going to take Western Avenue to get to the state house or other government buildings.

Recently, I have been seeing a pattern of behavior on that particular street that is really driving me nuts: people are running red lights like crazy!

Sure, we all do it occasionally, but it has really gotten worse in the last few years.

Someone recently commented on Facebook that, as she was coming out of one of the Western Avenue shopping plazas, she saw four vehicles on Western Avenue blow through the intersection after her light had turned green.  Fortunately, she was in the habit of looking both ways before proceeding, even though her light was green.  If she had not been, she would have been t-boned by one of those red light runners.

Honestly, I don't really know why it seems to have gotten worse in the last few years.  Maybe you know.  Has living through a pandemic made us a lot less patient?  Does driving on Western Avenue spontaneously make us have to go to the bathroom really bad?  Or, is it like Mad Max (the original movie) and we just don't care for our own personal safety (or the safety of other drivers) anymore?

Regardless, please do us all a favor...  Slow down just a little bit and pay close attention to those traffic lights.