Ohio’s Fifth Season

You know how Ohio supposedly has four seasons?

Winter.

Spring.

Summer.

Fall.

That’s cute.

Anybody who’s lived here long enough knows we actually have five.

The fifth season is Orange Barrel Season.

And judging by the last few weeks, it’s officially here.

The first sign isn’t the weather.

It’s not the temperature.

It’s not even the calendar.

It’s that moment you’re driving your normal route and suddenly there are cones where there weren’t cones yesterday.

A lane disappears.

Traffic slows down.

And a drive you’ve made a hundred times suddenly feels like a scavenger hunt.

The Ohio Department of Transportation says this year’s construction season includes hundreds of road and bridge projects across the state, along with improvements to thousands of miles of roadway. That’s good news in the long run, even if it doesn’t always feel that way sitting in traffic.

The funny thing is that every Ohio driver reacts exactly the same way.

The first orange barrel appears and we immediately start negotiating.

“Maybe I’ll take a different route.”

“Maybe I’ll leave ten minutes earlier.”

“Maybe traffic won’t be that bad.”

Then we all end up in the same backup anyway.

What makes Orange Barrel Season uniquely Ohio is that we complain about it every year.

Every.

Single.

Year.

And yet if the roads never got fixed, we’d complain about that too.

We’re a very talented people.

The truth is, road crews have one of those jobs that nobody notices until they’re needed.

When everything’s smooth, nobody says a word.

When a lane closes, suddenly everybody becomes a transportation expert.

I’ve done it.

You’ve done it.

We’ve all driven past a construction zone and thought, “I would’ve done this differently.”

As if we were secretly qualified to redesign a state highway.

The real challenge isn’t avoiding construction.

It’s accepting that for a few months every summer, orange barrels become part of the Ohio landscape.

They’re as common as cornfields.

As predictable as humidity.

As unavoidable as somebody saying, “Sure is hot out.”

And maybe that’s why I kind of appreciate them.

Not because I enjoy sitting in traffic.

Nobody enjoys sitting in traffic.

But because they’re one of those little things that connect all of us.

No matter where you’re headed in Northwest Ohio, chances are somebody else is looking at the exact same orange barrel wondering who put it there.

And somehow that feels very Ohio.

Small Truth

Every summer Ohio drivers ask the same question:

“How much longer is this construction going to last?”

The answer is usually:

“Long enough for them to move the orange barrels somewhere else.”