From the late 1980s through the 1990s, John Shaeffer fought the Battle of the Bella Vista Bypass using a pen and a yellow legal pad as his weapons of choice. Shaeffer, a retired gentlemen living in Bella Vista, was a prolific and passionate writer of letters to the editor, peppering all the local newspapers regularly with handwritten missives, usually about the great need for a highway bypass around his community.
Shaeffer's letters, though a bit over the top, made the point again and again that U.S. 71 through the main part of Bella Vista carried a dangerous mix of fast-moving through trucks and slower local traffic and that the safety of all who travelled it demanded a bypass. He was frustrated because he believed that Bella Vista's status at the time as an unincorporated retirement community rather than a city stood in the way of the progress he demanded. And he believed with all his heart that a certain former governor of Arkansas had promised a bypass would be built, but never followed through, even after acquiring a more prominent position headquartered at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C.
What’s the point: It’s easy to understand the anxiety created by the installation of a large roundabout at the end of Interstate 49 in Bella Vista. But its also easy to see that once drivers are use to it, it won’t be a problem.
The intermediate steps to "improve" traffic flow along that stretch of U.S. 71 angered him even more. He dubbed the interchange where Interstate 49 ends and joins U.S. 71 north of Bentonville as the "McKissick Creek Death Trap," and news of any car collision in the vicinity was sure to draw a flurry of letters from John's prolific pen.
John's been gone for more than a decade, so he's missed the slow but sure steps that have been taken to create his long-awaited Bella Vista Bypass. Still, one has to wonder what the man who came up with the "McKissick Creek Death Trap" would say about the roadway's newest improvement, a two-lane, five-entrance roundabout under construction at the very same spot. Perhaps the "Bella Vista Ring of Fire"?
To be fair, it's not that bad.
Roundabouts are designed to keep traffic moving -- albeit more slowly -- at busy intersections in order to avoid cars and trucks stacking up at stoplights. This new feature is supposed to allow drivers seamless access to and from I-49, U.S. 71 and the beginning leg of the bypass that will eventually connect it to an interstate-quality road in Missouri.
However, residents of the area have voiced so much concern about the coming change that the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has taken the unusual step of holding public informational meetings on how to safely navigate it. That's understandable: Most roundabouts are small and involve only four entrance points, while the one in Bella Vista will be pretty big and have five entrances.
Anyone who who has tried to traverse the existing Bella Vista interchange at rush hour understands the value of finding ways to keep traffic moving. Getting across U.S. 71 at the busiest of times is a frustrating series of stops and starts at a snail's pace. So why is this roundabout creating so much heartburn among local residents?
For one thing, it's change and, apparently in realms other than politics, people don't like change. Those who have to regularly negotiate that interchange have made their uneasy peace with it, either by acknowledging the extra time it requires to travel or by finding alternate routes.
For many, it's also new. There just aren't very many roundabouts in these parts, so the average driver is taken aback when one is encountered. Add to it the anxiety of uncertainty while driving a moving automobile and, well, it makes sense that folks are fearful.
It also makes sense, however, that once familiar with it, drivers will negotiate the new roundabout with little difficulty. We humans are an adaptable lot. A little practice will make it easier. Just remember to take it slow as you learn.
We recall John Shaeffer's description of the current interchange when it was new. Is a "death trap" really preferable to a roundabout? For better or worse, drivers have gotten use to it. The same will be try of the roundabout.
For those who just can't or won't figure it out, there's this: It's a temporary solution. Once the money is secured by the state of Missouri to connect its side of the interstate to the state line, Arkansas will follow suit and replace the roundabout with a conventional intersection (called a single-point urban interchange, or, in the lingo of highway engineers, SPUI). How quickly that will happen, who knows?
So it appears the end of John Shaeffer's long crusade may finally be within sight. We'll just have to go in circles a little while longer to get there.
Commentary on 11/25/2016