Dear Mahatma: I have noticed that on the new signage at the Big Rock interchange some signs are in capital letters — such as DOWNTOWN — while others are in upper and lower case. Is there a rule that keeps the lettering from being consistent?
— Just Curious
Dear Curious: It is The Mahatma’s experience over eight-plus years of writing this column that there is a rule for everything, and it is most often found in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Our guide to the proper section was David Nilles, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Says the book: “All names of places, streets, and highways on freeway and expressway guide signs shall be composed of lower-case letters with initial uppercase letters.” So far so good.
And: “Other word legends shall be composed of upper-case letters.”
Downtown isn’t a street or highway. Is it a place?
Nilles said the Highway Department views downtown as a region rather than a specific place, and so the letters are uppercase.
Dear Mahatma: The enclosed photo shows a common road obstacle hereabouts. That is, nonlicensed heavy equipment on city streets. I have always understood these vehicles should be transported by trailer or escorted by a licensed vehicle, since the equipment doesn’t have a license or required safety features.
— Tom in Fort Smith
Dear Tom: You are, as we used to say in the newsroom, correctimundo.
For confirmation of your correctness we turned to Ron Burks, chief of the Arkansas Highway Police. Who would know more about this?
Correctimundo, Burks said, mobile construction equipment is not manufactured for roadway use. And generally it should be moved via licensed truck or trailer. There may be, he added, limited circumstances where incidental roadway use is necessary. In those circumstances, proper safety measures — signage, flagmen, escorts, hazard lights — should be used.
“I would encourage your reader,” the chief said, “to contact the appropriate law enforcement jurisdiction the next time he observes a piece of off-road, mobile construction equipment traveling down the road and let them evaluate the legality of such travel at the roadside.”
Dear Mahatma: Not strictly about traffic but related: Little Rock used to have nice-looking police cars, white with blue and green. But they went back to black and white. Why revert from attractive to ugly?
— A Reader
Dear Reader: The city began phasing in the blackand-white color scheme of its police cars in October of 2005. Nearly 10 years ago.
So long ago that the police chief was some guy named Stuart Thomas. The reason, he said at the time, was to increase visibility of the patrol cars.
Residents would complain about never seeing a patrol car. Thomas would check the patrol records and find there were, indeed, cars in those neighborhoods. And so the change.
Vanity plate seen around town: HVNSENT
Mahatma@arkansasonline.com