I’m back on the cliffside above NW 23rd after about three hours of drive-to errands that should have taken two.

The culprit: all these traffic halting, flagger-delayed, construction zones.

What kind of construction?

Well, you name it.

Forests of intown high rises for rich empty nesters and California-based investors.

Utility redo’s. Road widenings. Sidewalk and street repaves. Building and road re-paintings. Bridge repair.

Seems like not only downtown Portland, but the Pearl, the Northwest District, the Riverfront- sheesh, man, we’re being one-laned and flagged to the point of submission.

Yes, I am aware of all the “reasons.” There won’t be many more beautiful days like this. The rains are coming, which will make construction that much more of a PITA. So might as well do what you are able to, now.

That’s the public slant on things. I can agree with that up to a point. Rather that some center city streets are one-laned than farms in say, North Plains, get dug up for subdivisions and shopping centers.

But that argument holds true only up to a point. While some current projects are both necessary and timely, some of them strike me as “make-work” for favored contractors.

Whether justifiable or not, these undertakings seem to be greenlighted by local and regional authorities without regard to impact on traffic and delays.

Anyone out there agree with me?