A loop was closed Thursday afternoon, a tie bound, on the North Little Rock side of the Arkansas River. Officials dedicated the new and sparkling Broadway Bridge to the state's veterans.
Only an ingrate or grump could have asked for more on this day: sunshine, a cooling breeze, and in the background, a bridge recently opened after a mere five months closed.
Gratitude, also, for what wasn't given. Some folks, present company included, predicted traffic Armageddon -- Traffigeddon? -- when the old and somewhat worn bridge went off service, got itself all blown up, and was rebuilt. People in the traffic business were concerned as well.
Present company, guilty, figured that every time it rained, getting from downtown Little Rock to the home place on the north side would be an unmitigated booger. There was some of that on the rainy days and Mondays that always get commuters down. But a lot of planning went into the downtown traffic grid, changes were made in traffic light sequencing, and the worst only happened periodically.
It helped that snow hit hardly at all and that the typical hard, long rains of November came easy.
It also helped that drivers, for the most part, remained calm and carried on. This comes from personal observation. Others will surely disagree.
For those with short memories: The bridge closed on Sept. 28 and was decommissioned, because when built in 1923, it was dedicated to veterans of World War I, at the time known as the Great War, the war to end wars, and we all know how that turned out. Only the dead, Plato said, have seen the end of war.
On March 1, under cover of darkness, the bridge opened. The grapevine spread the news, and folks started driving over.
We know one beautiful girl, frazzled by the heavy traffic she endured on the interstate system to get to work in the morning during those five months, who loves the thing and drives over it every chance she can.
The usual suspects showed up: elected politicians and bigwigs from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. If Buddy Villines was there, we didn't see him. Villines, who retired in January after many years as Pulaski County judge, was the driving force behind the county kicking in an extra $20 million for those arches.
That's a lot of money, but the arches are beautiful, but that's a lot ....
"We are blessed to have this structure," Highway Department Director Scott Bennett said. No argument there. He also said the rest of the project -- the pedestrian/bike lane, and the off-ramp to Cantrell Road -- should be opened in June.
The bridge construction consumed 25,000 cubic yards of concrete, he said. We include this because it's nice to have an occasional fact in this column. Oh, 8 million pounds of structural steel went into the arches. That's two facts, doubling the quota.
Fjfellone@gmail.com
Metro on 04/08/2017