On the way to a nearby town, the main motorway is coned for most of its length, whilst it is made into a Smart Motorway. Then a short gap of normal motorway (no cones) and then another set of cones for the last 4-5 miles. Turn off the motorway and the route towards the exit has a separate set of cones because of a separate roundabout upgrade. I don't think it will be a smart roundabout, but who knows?
Anyway, eventually I arrive in the actual town centre (with its confusing multi storey parking) and finally emerge on foot into the shopping area.
"This is the place to get your summer on" proclaim the signs, although the actual mall appears to be suffering from the traffic blockade. I idly counted nine closed shops in the first few minutes walkabout. An area on the floor which once sported a concession stand now has a kind of green stain, left behind when stand holders had moved away. Adjacent, the bank has gone and next door the opticians proclaims in large print that it has moved.
Amazon Prime and internet shopping march on, whilst this mall becomes troubled with a combination of the current poor road access and the general economy. Yet, curiously, across the road there's a massive hole where another new store is supposedly being built.
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