DRIVETIME MAHATMA: Work zone fast driving hits a nerve

Dear Mahatma: Regarding your recent column on deer-car collisions, during my 13 years with the Saline County sheriff's office we responded to many. We had a one-page report to help the vehicle owner and to document the disposition of the animal. Even if no report was filed our radio room kept a log of animal disposition. -- Ed Twice Retired

Dear Ed: Thanks for the info. We asked Trey Reid of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission to reiterate the best advice for drivers after they clonk a deer. He said a driver should either have an accident report or call the commission dispatcher at (800) 482-9262.

Hunters who take a deer can check with the agency at (877) 731-5627, online at agfc.com, or with the agency's smartphone app.

Smartphone app? Those Game & Fish guys are really cool.

Dear Mahatma: Please remind the Arkansas State Police there needs to be more enforcement in the Interstate 630 construction zone. I put my cruise control on 50 mph every morning and feel like the Lone Ranger. -- Compliant Commuter

Dear Compliant: Your reference to the Lone Ranger made us think fondly of all the Lone Ranger jokes we heard as a kid. If only we could actually remember one of which our Mama would have approved.

Moving forward, we have been told numerous times by law enforcement agencies that speed control tends to be complaint driven. The complaint and request in this case should be made to Troop A at (501) 618-8282.

We've also been told that construction zones are tough places to do enforcement because, well, it's a construction zone. There's seldom a place to pull over a driver. That doesn't mean enforcement doesn't happen; it's just more complicated.

For those who have forgotten, or would like to forget, this project is designed to widen 2.16 miles of Interstate 630 from Baptist Hospital to University Avenue. Its estimated completion is early 2020, and the contract amount is $87.4 million.

Dear Highway Guru: A tower has been erected along U.S. 65 right-of-way just north of Gould. It looks more like a rocket than a communication tower. I have dubbed it an Intercontinental Russian Meddling Ballistic Missile -- IRMBM for short. It's about 80 feet tall and has a satellite dish mounted on the side. Since you know all that happens between the ditches, can you enlighten? -- Curious Driver

Dear Driver: Thank you for the photo you sent at our request. That thing is tall and skinny, for sure, but we can't tell from the photo if it's actually Russian.

Quizzing of the Arkansas Department of Transportation reveals this is indeed a communication tower. Being a hard-nosed investigative reporter, we demanded to see a permit. ArDot sent along two utility permits, both granted to a Little Rock company named Mobilitie LLC.

The permits were issued May 15, for U.S. 65 in Lincoln County.

Vanity plate seen around town: LOLALOT

Fjfellone@gmail.com

Metro on 12/01/2018

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