I-75 snafu: Wife may never find her way home

Not sure I'm going to be seeing my wife tonight.
That doesn't mean what it sounds like, understand.
Sherri happens to work at a bank located on University Parkway --- on the east side of Interstate 75.
Thanks to Monday's immense traffic foulup at that already torturous roadway, she's among all those motorists whose routine drive home was rearranged by a three-ton piece of construction equipment.
Ever heard of a steel piling collar?
Whatever it is, one of those things flew off the back of a freight company truck trailer Monday morning and bounced along the overpass roadway several times, punching holes in the asphalt as it went.
Motorists underneath I-75, whose cars were pelted by chunks of concrete, must've thought the overpass was coming down next.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
Unfortunately, the mishap still screwed up the regular commute for many folks around here.
Sherri Mannix included.
University Parkway can be a huge pain without this happening
I hear about some near mishap every week from my wife.
Having driven to her office in the morning a few times, I can relate.
Defensive driving is absolutely vital to navigating University, especially in the vicinity of I-75.
Anyway, I called her with regular updates Monday regarding the traffic situation.
Bad.
Bad.
Bad.
What should normally be a 15-minute drive home for Sherri will take more than an hour.
In the afternoon, I suggested her taking Lakewood Ranch Boulevard north to State Road 64 to avoid the mess and circle back home from Morgan Johnson Road.
But Sherri decided to give I-75 north a try to State Road 70.
Not good.
There were nothing but red brake lights in front of her, she said.
That was at 7 p.m.
Then when she reached 70, the ramp was backed up with motorists trying to head west, too.
So Sherri got off, drove east, turned north on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard to go to 64.
"I should've listened to my husband," she said.
Ahem.