Crown Highway 1744A |
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public highway |
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alternate name |
"Nitya's Driveway" |
east end |
The street outside the palace grounds |
west end |
TzeTze's garage |
Crown Highway 1744A is an unusually short numbered highway serving the Boring Stuff Annex of the PalaceOfSerenity. It is used almost exclusively by TzeTze, Minister of Information Systems, and functionally serves as his private driveway.
Contents
Duckling Tunnel
Background
As the driveway runs between two ponds, ducks and other waterfowl often cross the driveway to move between the bodies of water. When the road first opened with the completion of the Boring Stuff Annex, the most prominent duck crossing spot was simply marked with a "DUCK XING" sign.
In 2011, a traffic signal was placed at the duck crosswalk. Because this is Centralia, somehow the ducks understood that they should only cross when the signal was active. TzeTze, however, often had to wait for the red light to get up and down the driveway. This was a bit of an annoyance, especially since the traffic signal was inexplicably on a timer instead of a sensor and tended to activate even when no ducks were crossing.
Construction
In March 2017, CenDOT announced that C-1744A would be closed for 21 days for construction of a tunnel beneath the roadway providing ducks access between the two ponds.
Construction proceeded as planned, however, the opening of the tunnel was delayed four days as PrincessAlice, who was going to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony and photoshoot, happened to get Actually Really Sick right when the tunnel was planned to open. We don't really know how an entity of living magic can contract a common cold, but somehow she managed.
C-1744A reopened on 27 March 2017 following the ribbon-cutting ceremony. TzeTze notably did not attend. It is assumed that he was busy cooking noodles, though nobody knows for sure because in the past PrincessAlice has been a rather poor judge of when Nitya is cooking noodles.
Indcidents
During the morning rush hour of 28 March 2017, a mere day after the tunnel's opening, the Bird Police shut down the Duckling Tunnel after reports of a hawk in the area wearing an admittedly-pretty-cute bib reading "DUCKLINGS ARE DELICIOUS". The tunnel was reopened by noon the same day, when it seemed safe to assume that the hawk got bored and flew away.