Last January, my wife and I spent our wedding anniversary at the Alluvian Hotel in Greenwood, Miss., and the next day we continued on to Columbus to take care of some business. I've made the trip numerous times, usually driving straight across east Arkansas and ending up still on Highway 82 when I arrived in Columbus. I guess I'll always marvel at the Mississippi River's Delta, and since I'm a geologist, I can visualize the vast amount of water from the melting Ice Age glaciers that created the Delta.
January is bleak in the Delta since the once great swamps have been drained, the trees cut, and the river tamed with levees to stop the flooding. The mile after mile of plowed dirt is as boring as any place I've ever been. However, some of the entrances to several Delta towns have been perked up by planting crape myrtles along Highway 82 and by creating crape myrtle-lined boulevards in their towns.
Greenville, with its casinos and dead-as-a-sack-of-hammers downtown, has planted several hundred crape myrtles along Highway 82 leading into town, and although its downtown is almost vacant, your first impression as you drive in is extremely positive. There's not enough space in this column to comment on its downtown except to say "Needs work." However, it's doing the right thing in planting the crape myrtles, and letting them grow tall by only trimming the lower branches. They look great.
We continued on across the Delta, stopping at Indianola, where we visited its very nice, viable Main Street downtown and dined at the Crown Restaurant. If it were Michelin rated it would deserve a "Worth a Detour" nod. Again we found entranceways and streets lined with tall crape myrtles. That was when it began to occur to us that, in general, folks in Mississippi don't chop off their crape myrtles like folks do in most Arkansas towns. It seemed to me that it was 80 percent tall crape myrtles and 20 percent chopped off semi-bushes, whereas El Dorado has 80 percent (or more) chopped-off crape myrtles. Many other Arkansas towns follow the same trimming, as if crape myrtles were bushes. The difference is remarkable, and for once, some Mississippi towns have gotten it right. Master Gardeners and every nurseryman or woman worth their salt will tell you not to commit crape murder by chopping them off.
Taking a lesson from Mississippi would choke some folks, but let's just do a "what if" here in my hometown of El Dorado. What if the city tried to do something about North West Avenue, the eyesore of south Arkansas? How about making it a boulevard with a limited turn lane from Wal-Mart to Locust Street, then plant crape myrtles every 20 feet in about 75 percent of what is now the endless turn lane? It could also plant hundreds more along the city right-of-ways on both sides of the street. Yes, I'm dreaming again, and I know it's not going to happen anytime soon.
Almost every town of any size has a North West Avenue, and almost all of them could use an uptick. Hot Springs has Central Avenue, Little Rock has Broadway, and Fayetteville has Dickson Street.
If you have lived in Arkansas for very long, you'll know how much ugly leafy trees cover up. Planting trees is the least expensive way to improve eyesore entry streets, and most of the time that street is the first impression of your town. Every city owns the right-of-way and all they have to do is cut a three-foot square hole in the sidewalk or pavement.
A boulevard center is an area about the width of a turn lane, and almost every progressive city has them planted with trees or bushes. A turn lane doesn't have to be essentially endless to be effective. By reducing the spots available to turn you won't create any traffic problems, because leaving one turn lane per city block leaves plenty of opportunities to turn, and by taking around 75 percent of the turn lane and planting trees or shrubs, you have added measurably to the ambiance of your city's entranceway.
When we consider how inexpensive this idea is, and how much it would add to the look of city streets, you would think city officials would be standing in line to plant crape myrtles. Well, if you haven't noticed, they are not, and trying to get any action on tree planting is like pulling teeth. There is something about tree planting on or in the median that's a signal to get your back up if you are a mayor or a city engineer.
A city street doesn't have to be designed as a raceway to get cars and trucks through town as quickly as possible. By making the street pedestrian-friendly with sidewalks and crosswalks, and lining it with trees, you are building up the town's quality of life, and that trumps a raceway every time.
Richard Mason is a registered professional geologist, downtown developer, former chairman of the Department of Environmental Quality Board of Commissioners, past president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, and syndicated columnist. Email [email protected].
Editorial on 11/26/2017