Dear Mahatma: I dare anyone in Arkansas to find a worse maintained mile of highway than U.S. 67/167 south from exit 19 in Cabot to the hill a mile south. I have had a four-wheel alignment done twice from hitting the same potholes each morning. The highway folks keep putting cold patch in the 50 potholes (I counted) in that stretch that lasts about three weeks until they are back to their full pothole depth. -- Battle Tested in Cabot
Dear Battle: We drove out to Cabot and back to verify the state of this stretch of U.S. 67/167. Looks pretty bad, for sure. We were unable to count the potholes, too swiftly running out of fingers and toes, although we dodged a whole bunch.
What says the Arkansas Department of Transportation?
This piece of road is part of a project to widen the highway from Jacksonville to Cabot, plus interchange improvements. Work scheduled to begin in ... May!
By the way, about 34,000 vehicles pass this spot every day.
By the way, we noticed a road parallel to the highway is named for Willie Ray. And should be. He was mayor of Cabot in 1976 when a tornado hit the town hard and killed three people.
Cabot recovered and grew, thanks in large measure to Ray's leadership.
This reporter was the first journalist on the scene, having driven there from the newsroom of the Jacksonville Daily News. Imagine that. Pulaski County had three daily newspapers at the time -- the Daily News, the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas Gazette.
Also, please do not subtract 1976 from 2022.
Vanity plate seen on Stagecoach Road on a red Corvette: WEALTHY.
Most Glorious Highway Yogi: Along Interstate 630, aka the Speedway, there once were rumble strips along the shoulders. With the widening of the highway, those rumble strips went away. Is the plan to leave the new shoulders smooth, no rumble, for those many who stray out of the travel lanes? -- Steadily Shocked by Senseless Speeders
Dear Shocked: There may be hope.
ArDot said the old strips were filled in to smooth out the temporary lanes used during the construction, but that new rumble strips were not included in the project.
The agency further reported that rumble strips have been added lickety-split to numerous highways around the state over the past couple of years, indicating Interstate 630 could be added to the list.
Dear Mahatma: Why are they building a new bridge at the Remington Road exit? What is wrong with the existing bridge? -- Fellow Traveler
Dear Fellow: David Nilles of the Arkansas Department of Transportation reports the bridge is being replaced because of its age and condition.
Kind of like our knees.
The project at Arkansas 15 and Interstate 40 is by Manhattan Road & Bridge Company. Contract award amount was $8.8 million. Completion is expected in late 2023.
Vanity plate on a Camaro: NICURN. Meaning neonatal intensive care unit registered nurse. Bless you.
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