Dear Mahatma: Once upon a time, there were rules about how much noise cars could make. Didn't drivers get a ticket for having damaged mufflers? Why aren't there rules, laws and regulations about this? -- Retired Librarian
Dear Librarian: Francis Bacon wrote that silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. We don't pretend to be wise, but we love silence as much as any librarian, retired or otherwise.
There is most certainly a rule about mufflers. Arkansas Code Annotated 27-37-601, "Noise or smoke producing devices prohibited," tells us that every motor vehicle shall, at all times, have a muffler in good working order and constant operation "to prevent excessive or unusual noise and annoying smoke."
Drivers do indeed get tickets. The Office of Driver Services reports that in fiscal 2015 there were 384 convictions across the state for violations of the muffler law. Thus far in fiscal 2016, there have been 154 convictions.
Dear Mahatma: A huge thank you to every person on the crew that resurfaced U.S. 371 between Lockesburg and Nashville. Those folks know how to fix a road. Any chance we can get them to start on U.S. 71 between Y City and Interstate 540? Hit those rough spots in a loaded truck and it can be quite irritating. -- Mena Reader
Dear Mena: To be frank (cue soundtrack laughter), we don't get many joyful messages here at the Traffic Desk. We have passed it along to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. The district engineer was last seen doing a cartwheel.
The U.S. 371 project was done in two phases. The first was 6 miles from Lockesburg east to the Howard County line. Martin Marietta Materials of Hot Springs did the job under a contract worth $1,154,833. The work was completed in June 2015. The second phase, extending from the Howard County line east to Arkansas 355 near Nashville, was completed in July. Its 7 miles of work was done by the Redstone Construction Group of North Little Rock under a $1.7 million contract.
Now you, dear reader, know who did the work. And they know how much you liked it.
As for U.S. 71, Y City to I-540 in Fort Smith, no projects are currently scheduled.
You win some. You lose some. And some days it rains.
Your correspondent was at the Broadway Bridge, um, thing on Tuesday for about an hour during the middle of the day. That was after the bridge was blown up, but before it tumped into the river.
Timing is everything in life. The bridge came down about 15 minutes after we left. Some people, like reporters and photographers, were out there for most of the five hours between the explosion and the fall. And not a portable potty in sight.
Journalism -- a tough mistress. Highway engineering -- even tougher.
As the poet said, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Vanity plate seen in a sparkly frame: TAH DAH.
Mahatma@arkansasonline.com
Metro on 10/15/2016