GRIDLOCK GURU : Cave Springs aces Rogers on potholes
Posted on Friday, June 13, 2008
Cave Springs trumped Rogers when it came to improving Shores Avenue.
It’s never a good sign when a big city such as Rogers lets a little city like Cave Springs show it a thing or two about how to lay down new roads.
With its spiffy mall, new restaurants and more revenue, Rogers should never lose a game to a little place like Cave Springs.
The Guru starts with Shores Avenue, then he tries to figure out if Rogers police are picking off too many motorists who cut through a church parking lot to reach a busy intersection.
Question: “Why does Rogers fail to maintain its part of Shores Avenue ?” writes Ramey Herren of Cave Springs. “Shores Avenue is a street that runs from Arkansas 112 in Cave Springs to Mount Hebron Road, a distance of 2 miles. The Rogers portion is one-half mile long.
“ Cave Springs paved the east portion of the street while the Rogers part has been allowed to fall into a washed-out suspension breaker. Several nights ago, an ambulance had a difficult time traversing this part of Shores Avenue. In past years, Rogers has regularly maintained Shores Avenue to the Cave Springs city limits, but for the past 18 months has made little attempt.” Answer: Cave Springs required the Hampton Estates subdivision developer to improve Shores Avenue as part of the residential housing project, so there is a section with curbs and gutters that looks nice. The improvement was completed a month ago, said Cave Springs Mayor Mark Reeves.
The Guru checked out Shores Avenue and reported his findings to Steve Glass, the Rogers planning and transportation director. The road had many potholes concentrated in one small area and five or six other potholes up and down the road.
On Wednesday, Rogers patched the worst area but failed to fix a few potholes on Shores Avenue near Mount Hebron Road. Rogers ought to fix these silly potholes that remain.
Q: “I have heard about people receiving tickets or warnings from police for driving through the Church at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers to utilize the four-way stoplight at New Hope Road and Horsebarn Road,” writes Laura Lovelady of Rogers. “Is this true ?
“ Is the no-through traffic enforceable here ? Wasn’t it my tax dollars that went toward building the fourway light ? Like everyone in the Pinnacle area, I suffered through the construction and delays day after day and now this. What are the facts here ?” A: Police deny targeting motorists who traipse onto the church’s private property to reach the traffic signal. The Guru talked with Rogers Police Sgt. Miles Mason and Capt. James Baker.
Drew Tucker, the church’s associate pastor, said drivers do speed through the parking lot to reach the traffic signal.
Speed bumps are among the things that have been considered to slow down drivers, Tucker said.
“We’ve talked about it, but we’ve not done anything formally,” he said. Robert J. Smith, aka The Guru, writes on traffic issues in Northwest Arkansas each Friday. He can be reached at gridlockguru @arkansasonline. com or www. nwanews. com / gridlockguru.
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