A long line of frustrated drivers found themselves lost Monday, trying to get around the city's latest construction project. There's no way around it.
The intersection of Herndon and Golden State will be shut down for three weeks and unless you're in a train you're not getting through. Herndon is covered with road closure signs, but like the traffic, the message isn't getting through.
"I didn't see any detour," said one man who was lost on Van Buren at Farrington. "That's a pretty big street to be cutting off without any real excessive signage".
"I saw the signs, but it didn't say it was completely closed," said another man. "They still left roads open."
Making matters worse is the complicated detour taking drivers to Highway 99. It winds south on Polk, Bullard, Carnegie and Golden State, before heading back to the highway on Shaw. The trip adds about ten minutes to your drive time.
The project is also damaging business in the area. Some of the gas stations are still easily accessible off the highway, but on the first day of the project, Klein's Truck Stop turned into not much more than an empty lot.
"Basically, we are not doing anything," said the business' general manager, Arash Jamaleddin.
"You can see right now how it destroys the business. This is one of the busiest truck stops in the Fresno area but right now, we are not doing anything."
The project will eventually widen the road and make left turns a lot safer. Until then, frustrated drivers will be making more U-turns.
