BACK IN THE LATE 1920s and early 1930s, when Highway 10 was receiving two lanes of concrete pavement between Forks of the Credit Road in Caledon and Owen Sound, traffic was detoured around the construction sites onto narrow, gravel municipal roads, among them Melancthon's Back Line.

More recently, provincial highways are instead kept open during paving operations, with travellers being warned that there will be "lane closures" and to expect long delays.

That perhaps makes sense in parts of the province where there are no good alternate routes, but it makes no sense whatsoever on a heavily travelled two-lane highway that has paved municipal roadways that could serve as excellent detour routes.

And that's precisely the case today, with work starting this week on finally widening Highway 10 between the southern outskirts of Orangeville and the north edge of Caledon Village. Signs posted last week at either end of the construction project warned menacingly of "lane closures" that would start Sept. 17.

Just when the closures would occur, and how long commuters can expect to be delayed, hasn't been disclosed, perhaps in the belief that regular users of the highway won't take the risk and instead choose another route.

As we see it, a vastly preferable alternative would be to close Highway 10 to through traffic while construction is under way, and detour southbound traffic along Dufferin 109, Willoughby Road and Peel 24 (Charleston Sideroad), and northbound traffic via Peel 24 , Heart Lake Road and Highway 9.

To make those detours function smoothly, temporary traffic signals would obviously be needed at the Willoughby-Peel 24 and Heart Lake-Highway 9 intersections. (The latter intersection should already have signals anyway.) Beyond that, all that would be needed is appropriate signage.

While eliminating a lot of drivers' frustration and frayed nerves, use of these good, paved detour routes would undoubtedly speed the construction work and perhaps entitle the Town of Caledon to some compensation for the added wear and tear on its two north-south roads.