At about 5 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday, a large PennDOT truck made its run past our place in both directions. This is not the first time this has occurred during decent weather. Are they making practice runs for when we get snow?

The money and time spent certainly could be directed for more important use of our tax dollars.

Damaged guardrails must be repaired. Two are way overdue to be replaced or at least repaired. Both were damaged more than a year ago, and one is at a dangerous curve on the U.S Route 322 bypass. A tractor-trailer went through it, and that won’t be the last one to do so.

Repairing or upgrading bridges must be done. But that always includes the widening of the structure. That’s overkill in spending if it’s not necessary. With the widening we lose what was a natural speed-calming feature. The widening then brings up another pet peeve: sign pollution. Signs will be put up to tell drivers to slow down. Somebody is making a bunch of money selling them to our highway departments.

No wonder the state and local government budgets are on tilt. There’s a need to use the monies for fixing what is broken, not for super bridges and high-tech parks.

Stan Smith Oak Hall