GRIDLOCK GURU : New signals should ease exit holdup
Posted on Friday, April 18, 2008
A solution to the wicked traffic congestion near Interstate 540 ’s Pinnacle Hills Parkway exit is making its way toward Rogers.
That oughta make Rogers resident Michael Dodson happy. The Guru also finds space to answer a question about a bumpy bridge east of Bentonville.
Question: “Can you help those of us who rely on the traffic signal at New Hope Road and Pinnacle Hills Parkway / Horsebarn Road in the mornings ?” Dodson writes. “The signal remains red so long that it backs up traffic in the westbound lanes of New Hope past The Home Depot, which in turn backs up the northbound exit ramp from I-540. The result is a 20-minute wait before turning south onto Pinnacle Hills.
“ It also results in acts of ‘civil disobedience,’ that some call running a red light.
“ Also dangerous are people who blow by traffic stuck on the exit ramp’s left-hand lane and then force themselves into the left lane at the turn onto New Hope. I know you can’t fix stupid, but if you could scold them for me, that would be great.” Answer: Shame, shame, shame !
The city wants to install TraVis, a “web-centric, computer-vision processing” system, built by Lenexa, Kan.-based Professional Engineering Corp., at four intersections near I-540 ’s Pinnacle Hills exits. For about $ 140, 000, it will replace video detection cameras and other equipment. Rogers wants the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to pay half the cost, said Mayor Steve Womack.
Little Rock installed a Tra-Vis system in January at six intersections by the Shackleford Crossing shopping mall near Shackleford Road and I-430.
The so-called “adaptive traffic signals” detect vehicles by using overhead cameras, and they constantly adjust “green” time depending on traffic. Adaptive signals work well in areas like the Pinnacle Hills exit where traffic is generated in no consistent pattern by Promenade Mall, Mercy Medical Center, the Church at Pinnacle Hills and the John Q. Hammons Convention Center.
Also important in this discussion is the bridge that passes over I-540 near the Promenade Boulevard exit. The bridge and southbound ramps should open in mid-May, giving drivers other ways to reach the mall and the other places.
Q: “What’s going on with the new bridge on Arkansas 72 between Bentonville and Pea Ridge that crosses Little Sugar Creek ?” writes Lamar Steigler of Bentonville. “Not long after the first heavy rain in March, a noticeable difference was apparent on the south side where the bridge meets the asphalt road. It seems as if the road sank a few inches or the bridge moved ?” A: M. J. Lee Construction of Tulsa built the $ 3. 3 million bridge and hired a geotechnical firm to drill core samples and figure out what moved, said David Bushey, a Highway Department resident engineer. Results from the March 31 drilling aren’t in.
“I don’t think the bridge moved,” Bushey said. “I think it’s somewhere in the soil.” It’s not clear whether the Highway Department or Lee Construction must pay for the repair, Bushey said. Robert J. Smith, aka The Guru, writes on traffic issues in Northwest Arkansas each Friday. He can be reached at gridlockguru @arkansasonline. com or www. nwanews. com / gridlockguru.
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