Drivetime Mahatma

Smoother days ahead here, there

Dear Mahatma: There must be 50 partially filled potholes on Chenal Parkway between Bowman Road and Kanis Road. Could you check with the street gurus and find out if any thought has been given to repaving that stretch? -- Rattled Teeth

Dear Rattled: Luis Gonzalez speaks for the city of Little Rock on all sorts of things. He agrees that area was "affected by potholes," and expressed gratitude for their repair. A master of understatement, that Mr. Gonzalez.

He also said the Public Works Department plans to overlay the section of Chenal from Gamble Road to Kanis Road this year. Yes, 2015.

The section from Gamble Road to Bowman Road is not scheduled for resurfacing this year but will be considered for funding in the next infrastructure cycle in 2016-2018.

Dear Mahatma: The section of South Shackleford Road from West 36th Street through the intersection with Colonel Glenn Road is in poor repair. There are rough patches on top of patches, as well as weather damage. Any plans for resurfacing? -- Hopeful

Dear Hopeful: Hope no more. The aforementioned Luis Gonzalez said this section of South Shackleford is on the 2015 list for resurfacing.

Dear Mahatma: Do you know if the city of Little Rock has a plan to resurface the streets around UAMS? I hate to think about people having recent surgery trying to find a smooth ride out of there. The jolts are enough to break their stitches. -- Sarah

Dear Sarah: Good things, and good questions, come in threes. And so we pitched this one to Luis Gonzalez. Again. This answer is more complicated. Indeed, it gave us a headache. We'll do the very best not to mess up the answer.

The city resurfaced Jack Stephens Drive in 2013, Gonzalez said, adding that the city has nothing around UAMS scheduled for resurfacing. He also said many of the streets on campus are private.

Not exactly, responded Mark Kenneday, vice chancellor for campus operations. He said UAMS owns no streets except for Campus Drive, a little-bitty thing of less than a quarter-mile.

So who owns these streets and is responsible for upkeep?

Let's ask the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, whose spokesman David Nilles produced a document dated June 1, 2011. The document shows what the agency claims and does not claim at UAMS and the State Hospital.

What it claims is a total of 2.3 miles, including sections of South Palm, Hooper Drive, Jack Stephens Drive, West Seventh Street, Cottage Drive and Shuffield Drive.

The map also shows what the Highway Department has deleted from its system, described as "portions of Highway 841, Section 1."

More: Kenneday said a natural spring near the corner of Markham Street and Hooper continually tears up Hooper, a stretch of which will be blocked this weekend and next for a "more significant repair. We're doing it because that's the only way to get it fixed."

Mahatma@arkansasonline.com

Metro on 05/09/2015

Upcoming Events