Dear Mahatma: Are daytime running lights sufficient when it rains, or should we turn on the headlights? The driver's manual states headlights, but it was written before the advent of running lights. My personal view is that running lights are sufficient except in a heavy downpour. -- Frank, Too
Dear Too: Army platoon sergeants say there are only two ways to learn. The first is through repetition. The second is through pain. We'll stick with repetition.
Many readers have asked and answered this, especially when the season turns from dry summer to wet and dusky fall. The best thought came when a reader pointed out that daytime running lights do not illuminate taillights on a vehicle. Duh, he said, go the full Monty on the lights. And remember that parking lights do not constitute fully lit.
Dear Mahatma: Read your blip on Redmond Road and Main Street bridge in Jacksonville. I commute it every day. The Arkansas Department of Transportation gave you good answers, but the real question is why was the contractor not working on the project a multitude of working days the last three years? It's only been the last six months they have put on much more manpower. I remember one fall a year or two ago they went almost three months of beautiful fall weather with not one soul working, so 77,000 vehicles a day is a weak excuse. -- Commuter
Dear Commuter: Back to Danny Straessle of the Transpiration Department. He responds in three parts.
First, contractors are not required to work every day in a work zone, but it's always in their best interest to maintain a schedule that meets their milestones.
Second, on this specific project, the department had to make design adjustments that prohibited the contractor from working on a few occasions -- the contractor couldn't work until the department made the adjustments.
Third, the contractor has been given additional time to complete the project, which should be completed by the end of next summer.
O Wise One: What's up with traffic lights in Little Rock on the weekend? Most particularly, the one at Markham and Van Buren/Fair Park. You can be on Markham heading west at 7 a.m. and be stopped at a red light. Nothing coming on Van Buren or Fair Park. When the light changes, it always turns the left turn going north on Van Buren, even with no traffic turning left. BTW, the left turn going north on Van Buren always comes on during the week, whether or not there is traffic turning. -- Curious
Dear Curious: Our real wisdom is in knowing whom to ask. That would be Bill Henry, the city's traffic engineering manager.
He agrees Markham and Van Buren has a problem with vehicle detection, as do many intersections across the city. His agency is working on a contract to have new detection loops cut into these many intersections, but there is no time frame for the project at present.
Fjfellone@gmail.com
Metro on 10/21/2017