Anyone who has been through the center of town lately knows there’s a lot of road work. As a result of said road work, motorists need to re-route themselves often and many oft-traveled trails are missing in action.

Alas, road work is often a necessary evil. Be it for repairing, adding to, or updating the roads and other infrastructure, construction usually has a place in Los Alamos. However, these projects introduce a new feature to the vehicular landscape that creates a threat equaled by no other: Cones. These orange, cone-shaped objects serve to do nothing other than make our roads a treacherous, unpredictable place. Like the Spartans of many years passed, the orange menace has been taught since birth to yield to no vehicle.

One such cone waits ominously at the corner of Central Avenue and 20th Street, where eastbound traffic is blocked. Almost invariably, this necessitates a right turn. In a perfect world, the motorist would take note of this and complete the aforementioned right turn. The cone, however, poses a great problem to any motorist who ends up in this situation. Cones are brightly colored, and like their more docile cousin, the ‘Road Closed’ barrier, draw the motorist’s attention. If the motorists fails to avert their eyes from the conical terror, an accident is very likely.

Road work can mend around-town transportation, but nothing can mend the consequences of distracted driving. Stop the cones, stop the madness.