Mike Charleton’s commute across Bentonville was going pretty good until some wise guy put up a stop sign right in the middle of it.
The Bentonville man wants to know why the sign is there. The Guru will share what he’s learned.
Afterward, The Guru shares Fayetteville resident Evan Bukey’s concerns about an Arkansas 112 area near Interstate 540.
Question: “Bentonville erected stop signs on Southeast 28th Street at Medical Center Parkway,” Charleton writes. “Why?
Are they expecting something I don’t know about?
It now takes a lot longer to go from SE J Street to SE Moberly Lane and traffic backs up to each street every morning and afternoon. What was gained?”
Answer: The city created the three-way stop on April 15 at Southeast 28th Street and Medical Center Parkway while awaiting traffic signal equipment, said Mike Churchwell, Bentonville’s transportation engineer. The equipment should arrive in three to four months, and it’ll replace the signs.
The signs will help people cross Southeast 28th when a section of the new South Bentonville Trail opens in about a month.
The trail will allow walkers and cyclists to go from the city’s downtown Square to a spot near Krispy Kreme on South Walton Boulevard, where the trail will connect to the Rogers system.
Q: “I wish to call your attention to a minor but potentially dangerous problem,” Bukey writes.
“It’s the left turn off Arkansas 112 just south of Sam’s Club onto Interstate 540 north.
“During our snowy winter, the chemicals used by road crews damaged the stripes on our roads. The reflective paint at Arkansas 112/I-540 has virtually disappeared. Further, the leftturn signal is weak. During daylight hours, one need not worry. But after dark, it is both difficult and dangerous to make that turn.
“I recently talked to a member of the State Highway Commission. He said the intersection is on the ‘striping crew’s list’ but felt it was not a matter of urgency. My wife and I disagree. For that reason, we call your attention to this with the hope that a call or e-mail from you might make ‘re-striping’ a top priority.”
A: An Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department employee on Tuesday night checked the traffic signal and thinksBukey noticed the vertical louvers over the left-turn signal. The louvers prevent drivers in other lanes from seeing the left-turn signal change from red to green.
“The intensity of the lights in the left-turn signal head appear to be the same as in other heads,” writes Joe Shipman, the Highway Department’s district engineer. “The louvers may be what your reader is seeing.
The view of the light may vary slightly, depending on the placement of the driver within the lane and it may give the impression the light is dimmer.”
Shipman said a contractor will check the lane markings at the intersection within a few weeks.
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 05/13/2011