Dear Mr. Know-itall: My neighbor’s dog, Tequila, sunbathes in the middle of the street.
Could be he’s just passed out. Is this illegal?
- Local Resident
Dear Local: The traffic code has an all-purpose violation, Careless and Prohibited Driving. We searched for something analogous to dogs, perhaps Careless and Prohibited Canine Sunbathing. Alas, no such thing.
But people who work for Little Rock tell us that all dogs must be confined. It’s in the city code.
Dear Mahatma: At night, the off-ramps at Interstate 40 and MacArthur Drive in North Little Rock are really dark. I’ve seen drivers go onto the on-ramp when it’s really the off-ramp. There’s a bad accident waiting to happen if it’s not corrected.
- NLR guy
Dear Guy: We’ve made contact with the traffic engineer in your town. His name is Chris Wilbourn.
His advice is to give him a call at 918-6420 to discuss the matter.
The way the process works is that the city would ask the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department for a permit to install the lighting. The Highway Department would pay for the installation, and the city would be responsible for the lights thereafter. Good luck.
Dear Mahatma: A while back you explained the plan to improve U.S.
67/167 from Jacksonville north. Then the newspaper had an article about floods and highways.
Well, that stretch of road needs raising before widening. It floods.
- Cynthia
Dear Cynthia: It was reported here back in January that work would begin in the spring north of the Main Street overpass in Jacksonville. As the years go by, U.S. 67/167 will be improved and widened all the way to the Arkansas 5 exit at Cabot.
That’s the context. Your specific concern about flooding is addressed by Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
He says there will be a hydraulic analysis done as the highway is redesigned and widened. The analysis will use floodplain data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The design will accommodate a 50-year flood, but not necessarily a 100-year flood.
Why? Straessle says the highway is in a floodplain regulated by FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA regulations essentially require that a construction project not act as a dam and flood other property.
Dear Mahatma: When you’re on the road and see a sign that says “Little Rock 42,” where is it measuring to? I’ve been told it’s to the front steps of the courthouse, not the city limit. Or if not to the courthouse, the post office.
- Road Tripper
Dear Creative: Neither, we are told by David Nilles of the Highway Department. It’s the number of miles to a central point in town. For Little Rock, that central point is the intersection of President Clinton Avenue and LaHarpe Boulevard.
Of course, not every city has a courthouse, there being 75 counties and many more cities.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/19/2014