Hot Take: I Miss Missoula’s ‘Malfunction Junction’

Missoula isn't the only city that has an intersection nicknamed "Malfunction Junction." There are a few of those around the country. A quick Google search shows similarly named intersections in Tampa, Florida, Starkville, Mississippi, and Birmingham, Alabama.

I Miss "Malfunction Junction"

The three streets that intersect at the junction are Brooks/Highway 93, South Avenue and Russell Street. Growing up on the Southside of Missoula, my family had to use this intersection a lot. I know this is a very unpopular opinion, but I miss the intersection.

When the city changed the intersection, they stopped allowing through traffic on South Avenue. It is much more difficult now to travel east and west in the city, I miss that route. My father used to smoke and swear when I was growing up. He would go through at least one cigarette and swear more than normal while sitting at that intersection. It took a while, to say the least, to wait for two full cycles of the traffic lights until it was our turn.

The Reasons For Change Are Legit

I understand there were multiple reasons why that intersection was changed. The length of time traffic had to wait, the amount of pollution from idling vehicles, the amount of anger the intersection caused, the list goes on and on. The reasons for the change are all legit. But I still miss it. The reason the intersection exists in the first place goes back a long time. You can read about that here.

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Maybe I have a romanticized view of using that intersection in the past. Who knows, I may have a different opinion if I had to sit at that traffic light every day for as long as traffic had to back in the day. But then again, maybe it would give me more time to listen to the radio and practice my air drumming in the car. Safe travels everyone.