Several years ago I had a friend come for the weekend —- all the way from the Chamblee area. That afternoon, an accident shut down Ga. 400 northbound and all neighborhood streets in Sandy Springs quickly filled to capacity.

This was in the days when not everyone had a mobile phone. My friend finally got as far as Sandy Springs Plaza and called from a pay phone to say that getting across Roswell Road was impossible. Without the option of Ga. 400, everyone packed every surface street possible.

I bring this up, because this summer work will begin on a stretch of Abernathy Road from Roswell Road to Johnson Ferry. Crews will double the lanes from two to four, as well as install a median and sidewalks. When the work is done, the city will build a park in the area.

But in the meantime, let us all come to grips with the following —- traffic in Sandy Springs both mornings and afternoons will likely be hell.

And I'm not picking on the folks who will do the actual roadwork. You would have to pay me a boatload of money to put down hot asphalt in the summer. No, I'm talking about how us Sandy Springsteens are going to react.

I commute along Abernathy twice daily. Once work begins and traffic slows to a crawl or a stop, I'll look for other routes. So will many of my fellow commuters. We'll spill onto streets that other people use for their commutes. It doesn't take a big IQ to see where this is going.

My question is, since we can see that hell is coming, what can we do to turn down the temperature? More to the point, what are we willing to do?

Leave for work a little earlier? Car pool? Seek out telecommuting options? Try deep breathing? Play soothing music? Switch to decaf?

Or will we be our sweet selves and lean on our horns, bellow curse-soaked insults and flex that middle finger? I'd hope for the former, but I ain't betting against the latter.

Do we have it in us to pull together during a hot summer of commuting discontent?

Osterman lives in Sandy Springs. To comment on his column, write to Northside Opinions Editor Carla Caldwell at ccaldwell@ajc.com, or go to Osterman's blog, Around Sandy Springs, at ajc.com.