People who go to work before sunrise deserve green lights all the time.
Too bad Lowell’s Brad Higbee keeps seeing red.
The Guru’s got the sad stories of people stopped at night for ghosts coming in the other direction and of people who think yield signs on two Interstate 540 exit ramps are unnecessary.
Question: “The light at I-540’s northbound exit ramp onto Arkansas 264 has been in the default mode for months,” Higbee writes. “I come through on Arkansas 264 westbound on my way to work at XNA about 4 a.m., and about 50 percent of the time, I get stuck waiting for non-existent traffic going toward Cave Springs and then more non-existent traffic going north onto I-540.
“Another frustrating thing about that area is vehicles coming off the I-540 exit ramp and going east have a continuous lane, but it’s not indicated by signs.
People wait on traffic coming across the bridge going east to clear before pulling out. Maybe the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department can put a sign there, showing it’s a continuous lane and not necessary to wait. Can you use your clout to get something done to fix these problems?”
Answer: The Guru told the Highway Department and Lowell Mayor Eldon Long about Higbee’s concerns. Long said he’d ask the city Street Department to work with the state to figure out what’s possible.
Q: “My question concerns the double stoplights at the southbound Wedington Drive exit off I-540,” writes Steve Albertson of Fayetteville. “When going east to work on Wedington at 4:30 a.m., as I approach the stoplights, 90 percent of the time, they are yellow or red even though no one is coming off I-540.
“At that early hour, why should Wedington traffic have to stop day after day?
Can these stoplights be adjusted to accommodate the majority of traffic?”
A: These early morning traffic issues are difficult because there are few drivers out, and it’s hard to prioritize who gets green.
The Guru passed Albertson’s note on to Fayetteville’s traffic folks, who maintain the signals by permit with the Highway Department. They’ve been good about evaluating issues raised by The Guru’s readers in the past.
Q: “A new ‘feature’ has been installed and it’s causing traffic issues,” writes Gary Berger of Bentonville.
“There’s a yield sign on the southbound I-540 exit ramp at Arkansas 72 (Central Avenue in Bentonville), but it’s unnecessarily causing people to stop. It backs up traffic during the morning commute. Central has a new separate lane just for exit ramp vehicles turning right, protected by a solid separator line. There’s no reason to slow down, yield or stop. It might cause an accident (and frustration) for those who understand there’s a protected lane and no reason to stop. Would you arrange for the yield sign to be removed?”
A: That yield sign is on an exit ramp and, in this case, falls under the Highway Department’s control.
The Guru relayed Berger’s beef to Steve Lawrence, the Highway Department’s district engineer.
Robert J. Smith, aka The Guru, writes on traffic issues in Northwest Arkansas on Fridays.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/08/2011