DRIVETIME: Be patient, live long to see I-30 fix

Dear Mahatma: How deep must the holes get on Interstate 30 between Interstates 40 and 440 before repairs are made? -- Inquisitive

Dear Quiz: Inquisitive bordering on skeptical. As long as you don't lapse into cynicism, which is our problem, and has been for a long time.

No doubt others have had a thought similar to the one rattling around in your head and ours -- why fix these potholes with the 30 Crossing project on the horizon?

Please define horizon. OK. A preliminary schedule produced by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department shows design and construction to start in the fall of 2017, with a completion estimate of five years later. No, really, late 2022. Some of us will be pushing up daisies by then. This gives "long term" a whole new meaning.

And don't forget the part to be played by the delayed Broadway Bridge project, which has been pushed back. The plan and hope is for it to be completed in 2017. That's cutting it close.

Back to the potholes. We asked Mark Headley, the District 6 engineer for the Highway Department, and a guy with more to worry about than Johnny Manziel. Yes, that is a terrible comparison. We apologize to Headley, who answered the pothole question by making several points.

First point: Pothole patching is continuous. When a specific area becomes too pot-holey, that area will be cold-milled and overlaid with new asphalt.

Second point: A whole lot of traffic goes over I-30, including this correspondent several times a week. So patching and paving has to be done at night, when the materials are harder to get and the time to work is decreased. Meaning the number of nights it takes to do a job goes up.

Third point: It may not be cost-efficient to spend too much money on a roadway that is fixin' (our word) to be gone in a few years.

Fourth point: Please be patient.

Most Wise Mahatma: I was on the Interstate 30 bridge when the middle lane came to a sudden stop. A pickup driver pulling a trailer had stopped in the middle lane to get out and get a plastic trash barrel. Drivers were swerving wildly to avoid hitting him. I didn't know whom to contact to report this incident. -- Unnerved in NLR

Dear NLR: This reminds us that summer, the season of moving, is almost here. Meaning mattresses will fly off car roofs and litter the highways.

Back to the question.

Troop A of the Arkansas State Police patrols interstate highways in Pulaski, Lonoke, Faulkner and Saline counties.

Nonemergency calls to Troop A may be made to *55 or (501) 618-8100. Emergency? Call 911.

Was this an emergency? It's a judgment call. Maybe not, since the description of the incident doesn't include body or vehicular harm. But wouldn't it be cool if everyone with a cellphone in Troop A's jurisdiction put in that number? Or remember that *55 connects to the state police anywhere in Arkansas?

Mahatma@Arkansasonline.com

Metro on 05/07/2016

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