Mike and Mary Dandurand have a sense of humor. They have to, because they live on North Rodney Parham Road.
For those who don't travel this street between Hinson Road and Cantrell Road, it's been under construction -- widening and improving -- since practically forever. And there's a long way to go. Nearly a year, according to Little Rock Public Works.
Mary Dandurand dates the beginning from December two years ago, when flags were stuck in the right of way to indicate the location of utilities.
Utilities. There lies the rub. More about that later. Right now, let's get back to the sense of humor the Dandurands and their neighbors must have to endure this mess.
When Halloween came around, the Dandurands decorated the giant, circular, concrete culvert plopped in their front yard. It was a giant, circular, concrete pumpkin. Come Christmas, they expect to make it, um, Christmassy.
How about a giant, circular, concrete Santa Claus? That would be, um, Christmassy.
By the way, the culvert has been there for at least four months, Mike Dandurand said.
The original street plan, he said, was to make North Rodney Parham five lanes. That is, two lanes in each direction with a turn lane. People in and around Pleasant Valley vigorously contested that plan, he said, and it was scrapped. Now the project will be three lanes, with bike lanes and sidewalks, he said.
Some progress is visible. Across the street and a couple of doors down are a curb, a bike lane, a sidewalk, and a nice fence to keep pedestrians from falling into the deeper adjacent yard. At the Dandurands, the progress appears not so much. And directly across the street, in the front yard of a home, are a giant pile of gravel and a humongous excavating machine. Also some concrete pipes and a dump truck.
As we sit on a garden wall and watch the world go by, the world appears to be moving slowly. A backhoe moves from one spot to another, and traffic backs up. Looking left, a row of mature crepe myrtles line a neighbor's front yard. Time will tell if the trees survive the onslaught.
Mike Dandurand fingers the utilities as the problem. So many, many utilities.
The family's water line, he said, has been cut four times. The gas line up the road, he said, has been disrupted twice. And the AT&T cable twice. And the sewer line twice.
The Dandurands have lived here for 29 years and have been on top this project from the start. They have a list of every agency and company involved and a contact name and phone number for each.
Including Public Works. That contact is described by Mike Dandurand as "extremely nice."
Nice or not, residents along a mile of city street must endure. For as Yogi Berra once wisely noted, "It ain't over till it's over."
Next week: When will it be over?