“You can’t get there from here.”

That was an expression used in the New England area by local people being asked for directions to a distant location that can’t be reached without long, complicated directions. It usually refers to out-of-towners who get lost on long country roads.

I’ve heard that it probably got famous in the 1950s and 1960s from the Maine humorists who called themselves, “Bert and I.”

That was long before cars and cell phones had GPS giving drivers directions.       

With all the road construction projects going on in Central Minnesota this summer, I believe that expression might be just as appropriate here as it ever was in New England.

It seems like there are orange traffic signs and cones just about everywhere warning drivers that something up ahead is about to ruin their day.

I know there have been lots of notices for people to read about road closures or lane closures that will slow down traffic.

Over the past six weeks, MnDOT has been resurfacing the Hwy. 25 bridge between Monticello and Big Lake. And it’s expected to last into October. There was plenty of notice about that project, advising drivers to seek alternative routes.

But every morning and evening rush hour the traffic is backed up for up to a half mile in both directions.

I’ve cancelled or postponed a few doctor/dentist appointments because I couldn’t be sure I’d arrive on time.

Earlier in the construction season, sections of Co. Rd 43 in Big Lake were closed, causing drivers to find a new north-south route. Locals knew about the closings, but travelers from other areas were confused when they got to the intersection of Co. Rd. 43 and Hwy. 10 and couldn’t take their normal route. I’m sure they found another way, but not without some choice words for the road crews.

Those of us who live in Wright County had our travels disrupted when a long section of Co. Rd. 75 in Monticello was closed for road reconstruction. There aren’t many alternative east-west options in that area, so drivers had to take smaller local streets to bypass the construction. I’ll bet people who live on those residential streets didn’t appreciate all the excess traffic.

But for me the worst has been in east St. Cloud, where there were, and still are, concentrations of major road construction projects affecting busy intersections in close proximity to each other.

A number of times my wife Rita and I tried to visit her daughter who lives near East. St. Germain and Hwy. 10 in St. Cloud only to find three different routes closed at the same time.

Just last week we had to cut through a Wendy’s parking lot to get to her house. Good thing the drive-thru wasn’t busy or we might not have made it!

Maybe next time I’ll just park a few blocks away and walk the rest of the way. At least that way I know I can get there from here.