Montanans often joke that there are two seasons in Montana: winter and road construction. Neither is for the faint of heart since both require endurance and patience. As highway reconstruction continues in Blaine County, however, not only the Montana Department of Transportation is asking for travelers' patience. The Blaine County Ambulance Crew also requests understanding and empathy.

In a report generated on July 15, the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) shared construction progress on the stretch of Highway 2 from mile marker 403.5 to 393.1, approximately nine miles west of Chinook to Havre.

During the past week, the contractor was grinding the old pavement in order to finish subgrade road surfaces and to lay a cement treated base. These operations, along with crushed aggregate surfacing course operations, require a large trucking fleet, so the MDT asks motorists to be alert to trucks entering and exiting the roadway.

Other crews continued to install culverts at multiple locations on the project. As a result, the flow of traffic through the construction zone is often controlled by pilot cars, signal lights, and flaggers.

For the remainder of the bridge construction at Clear Creek and the three Red Rock Coulee structures, traffic will be routed on four bridge detours. Other temporary detours along the project will facilitate the installation of culverts.

Because removal of the existing driving surface has occurred through much of the project and pulverization operations are beginning to remove the remainder of the old pavement east of the Milk River Bridge, the roadway is rough, rutted, and dusty. These conditions, as well as the loose gravel and grooved surfaces, require motorists to reduce speeds to 35 miles per hour, to exercise caution, and to expect delays at multiple stops throughout the project. Some of these delays can extend to 15 minutes.

According to a spokesperson from the MDT, "There is NO PASSING on the project. Slower vehicles are advised to pull to the side of the road when appropriate to allow traffic lines to clear."

Laurie Huestis, Co-Crew Chief for the Blaine County I Ambulance, wanted to explain to motorists why ambulance drivers are not pulling over even though they are driving ten or 15 mph through the construction.

"We're often carrying cargo that experiences pain with a bumpy ride, so we slow the vehicle down to accommodate for their comfort," Huestis said. "As we transport our patients, we ask for the understanding and patience from those who share the road with us. We could use the lights to ask for the right of way, but we're just not going to speed through those rough patches."

Fellow Co-Crew Chief Dan Friede, added, "Even though all transports are conceivably emergency transports-because that's the purpose of calling an ambulance-drivers do not always run the lights. We do dodge bumps, however, to ensure as smooth a ride as we can provide. Those efforts mean that we might wander around the road a little, often running into the on-coming lane."

This past weekend, Friede recalled a non-emergency transfer from the Sweet Memorial Nursing Home that required such dodging and wandering. "There were quite a few cars stacked up behind us and we did pull over at Lohman to let those cars go by, but we don't always have that luxury," he stated.

Although we may not wish to acknowledge it, uncertainty is a natural and unavoidable part of life, and many things remain outside of our control-issues like another's driving habits or the frustration of a longer trip on less than ideal road conditions between Chinook and Havre. While we may not be able to control these situations, we can control our attitudes by adjusting our expectations and moving our energy to areas where our expectations can be met.

On this topic, athlete Tim Tebow, who is currently signed to play professional baseball with the New York Mets, has said: "Don't worry about what you can't control. Our focus and energy needs to be on the things we CAN control: attitude, effort, and focus."

Off-balance amidst road construction and COVID-19 stress, we can find respite by retreating into meditative moments in which we give thanks that we or our loved ones are not passengers in an ambulance.

As we navigate these difficult times, we're reminded to practice empathy, to look for the silver lining in any absurdity, and to remember that we are not traversing these rough paths alone.