Dear Mahatma: They've been working on Arkansas 18 between Blytheville and Jonesboro for what seems like 15 to 20 years. When might it be finished? -- Forgotten NE Corner
Dear Forgotten: Fifteen to 20 years? The current project actually started in August 2013. It's expected to be finished in early 2016. When complete, the project will have widened 6.9 miles of Arkansas 18 in Craighead and Mississippi counties at a cost of $17 million.
Our information comes from the iDrive Arkansas website, a production of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Dear Mahatma: Eastbound on Interstate 30, there is a sign at about mile marker 105 that indicates Malvern is 11 miles away. About 6 miles farther west on I-30, about mile marker 99, a sign indicates Malvern is 1 mile away. How can a motorist get 10 miles closer to Malvern by traveling 6 miles? -- Serious Reader
Dear Reader: These are two different types of signs. So says the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
The first one, around mile marker 105, is a Post Interchange Distance Sign. Yes, a "PIDS," which is slightly weird. It shows the distance to Malvern, measured to the center of town, as 11 miles.
The next sign is an Advance Guide Sign. The job of an "AGS" is to alert motorists of the principal destinations served by the forthcoming interchange -- Malvern for instance -- and the distance to the interchange.
Bottom line: The middle of town versus the exit a motorist can take to get to Malvern.
Dear Mahatma: I was driving west on Cantrell Road when traffic started to slow dramatically. Turns out a couple of bicyclists were riding along in the right-hand lane. Can they do this? Seems dangerous. -- Young Feller
Dear Feller: Yes, they can do that. A bike is a car is a horse. In other words, a legal conveyance. Drivers (riders) of any legal conveyance must follow the rules of the road, it must be said.
One of those rules, applied in this matter to drivers, is Arkansas Code Annotated 27-51-311, "Overtaking a Bicycle."
"The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle preceding in the same direction on a roadway shall exercise due care and pass to the left at a safe distance of not less than three feet and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken bicycle."
Point being that if you, Young Feller, encountered more bicyclists on Cantrell or anywhere else, go around carefully and with 3 feet of space.
Dear Mahatma: The traffic light at Cantrell Road and Kavanaugh Boulevard doesn't appear to be set correctly. The light stays green for traffic going north-south on Kavanaugh for two to three minutes. Got a phone number? -- Tired of Waiting
Dear Tired: Any traffic problem in Little Rock, real or perceived, can be reported to the city's traffic engineers at 379-1816. Or call the city's fix-it number, 311.
Mahatma@arkansasonline.com
Metro on 01/10/2015