Sharon Howeth wants a smoother Arkansas & Missouri Railroad crossing at Arkansas 264, and she’ll get it in about three weeks.
The Guru answers her question, then explores another issue raised by Howeth: What happens if people buy their own asphalt to fix rough roads?
Question: Howeth, who lives in Lowell, thinks the Bethel Heights railroad crossing is in a “tooth-jarring state of disrepair.” “In years past, they would take these holes, fill them in and make bumps out of them,” Howeth writes. “However, in the past year, just holes. Who is responsible for the repair?
“During phone calls to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and the railroad, they each say the other is responsible. Hmmm. There’s a great deal of traffic on this small highway. Can you help?
Who can we call?
“One neighbor debated pouring ‘Quikrete’ in before a rain - we didn’t do it.”
Answer: The Highway Department authorized the railroad to close Arkansas 264 to traffic on Aug. 14-15 so the crossing can be repaired. Bad weather would cause it to be rescheduled, said Ralph Fulton, the Highway Department’s district engineer at Harrison.
If it goes well, the crossing will be as smooth as the Apple Blossom Avenue crossing that’s a mile north of Arkansas 264.
Similar repairs are planned at the Arkansas 127 crossing in Garfield, but a repair date hasn’t been established, Fulton said.
This Quikrete issue is interesting. It makes The Guru wonder if rogue residents fed up with potholes could fix them on their own if a city won’t.
Fulton said the quickdrying Quikrete wouldn’t hold up to all the big trucks rolling across the railroad crossing at Arkansas 264.
And, The Guru suggests against pouring Quikrete in potholes.
Yet, Elce Redmond, a neighborhood community organizer for the South Austin Coalition in Chicago, led a citizen effort in April 2009 to fill a dozen potholes on a residential street. Ten people filled a dozen holes in 45 minutes with Quikrete asphalt cold patch, using a man’s 50-pound roller to smooth the black-colored material.
“I went up on that block just last week and it’s still down and good,” Redmond told The Guru. “You put it in and pound it down, and it definitely lasted.”
Redmond said the coalition’s work caused the city to repair about 300 other potholes in the area.
“They were embarrassed,” he said. “When you do something like that, the government has to respond.”
The thought of self-appointed pothole patchers making the rounds in Northwest Arkansas didn’t sit well with public works directors and transportation officials. The public can’t work on streets without city or state permission.
“You could potentially borrow yourself all kinds of trouble doing that,” said Jeff Coles, Fayetteville’s assistant transportation manager.
Robert J. Smith, aka The Guru, writes on traffic issues in Northwest Arkansas on Fridays. He can be reached at nwaonline.com/guru or [email protected].
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/23/2010