Tears and Laughter: Camden – a town that once had a highway

I don’t want to complain. But complaining is what we do when we have no control over something.

It started just before Thanksgiving. I remember because I commented, “why in the hell would they wait until the busiest travel time of the year to tear up the highway?”

Admittedly, I’m no engineer, but what has happened so far seems bad. All of the old pavement has been completely raked off of both sides. There is nothing left but loose gravel and bumps.

That is what drivers were left with just prior to everybody gathering to carve turkeys. Now Christmas is over and the New Year is here…and Highway 10 is still pretty just as they had left it. And trust me, Camden has enough issues to juggle without the main highway being ripped from the ground.

Of course, I understand – we all understand – that there have been a couple of rainy days when work couldn’t continue. But there have also been plenty of sunny days – days that were not holidays – when no work continued.

Did I mention how rough it is? If that was the goal of the project, then it has been a grand success. Because right now if you have a stability control system in your car, driving on it will activate it. Also, if you do not currently carry comprehensive coverage insurance on your vehicle, you may want to call and bump it up a notch…because you are likely to soon need a new windshield if you travel through Camden much. A loose rock thrown by a car in the left lane cracked mine just last week. Popped it just to the right of my field of view. I can’t not see it.

The Camden Bypass is a stretch of Highway 10. It can’t be avoided should anyone need to go to the only grocery store in town. Fortunately, a few people can get to the liquor store without driving on it, but most still have to at least cross it at some point…and there are drop-offs.

Again, I hate to complain, but this just cannot be right by anybody’s standards. Every street, road, and parking lot that connects to this highway project now has a severe drop off. They are bad enough nobody will likely forget to slow down for them more than once.

I’m also concerned that someone could potentially lose a tire or a muffler or something in the potholes between Subway and the firework stand. People will soon need a four-wheel drive in order to go to the Pig.

It is not just me complaining. Everyone in town is beginning to remind one another to avoid the bypass at all cost. If anyone happens to catch crews standing out there…I guess working, and have the unfortunate timing as to have to wait for a pilot car – then they will be late to wherever they are going. Backroads around Camden have seldom been busier.

Last year, there was a similar paving project downtown on Highway 41. I remember that it started the same week Christmas in Camden was scheduled to be held in early December. That short stretch of paving was finally completed just after the kids got back from Spring Break.

A few months ago the Escambia County end of Butler Street took less than two weeks to pave from start to finish – lines drawn and equipment gone. Granted, Escambia County has Holman Prison, a casino, and the Florida state line. That may help them. Wilcox has a jail, a few gamblers…and just over four miles of highway that no longer exists. Avoid it if you can.

Amanda Walker is a contributor with AL.com The Selma Times Journal, Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Alabama Gazette. Contact her at Walkerworld77@msn.com or at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.