GRIDLOCK GURU : Rupple gets work; no fix set for fork
Posted on Friday, October 24, 2008
Few Northwest Arkansas roads are as bad as Fayetteville’s Rupple Road, but it’s going to get better.
Fayetteville resident Richard Bradley’s questions about Rupple give The Guru a chance to talk a bit about nearby Mount Comfort Road, too.
Afterward, Alisa Hughes of Fayetteville wonders if stiffer fines would slow speeders.
Question: “Lindsey and Associates is building a boulevard-style replacement for Rupple Road,” Bradley writes. “I see progress in the middle section. Where Rupple meets Mount Comfort, it splits into two narrow forks. Is this going to be replaced ?
“ At the other end, where Rupple meets Wedington Drive, we have one of the worst-designed intersections. The lanes on Rupple are poorly marked. This leads to drivers not knowing which lane is for what. I have narrowly avoided collisions because I do not know what the oncoming drivers intend to do.”
Answer: The Rupple-Wedington intersection leaves Rupple drivers uncertain about whether drivers coming the opposite direction intend to turn left or go straight.
“The lane configuration is not ideal: dedicated right-turn lanes, with shared left and through lanes,” writes Chris Brown, Fayetteville’s engineering design manager. “The shared lanes cause confusion because each driver has to determine what the opposing driver will do before proceeding.”
The Guru welcomes readers’ thoughts about how to make it better.
A section of Rupple north of Wedington is being widened. Lindsey is paying to turn it into a boulevard, but Rupple’s fork near Mount Comfort won’t be modified. It’s likely to be abandoned — someday.
When there’s money for the project, the city will swing Rupple to the east so it’s aligned with a section of Rupple that’s north of Mount Comfort.
Mount Comfort will get better even if the fork waits. The city expects to spend $ 11. 66 million to widen it to five lanes from Rupple to Interstate 540.
Construction on a Mount Comfort section near I-540 ’s Porter Road exit starts early next year. The city will modify how Shiloh Drive connects to Mount Comfort. A city design map shows what’s planned. It’s at www. nwanews. com / gridlockguru
Q: Hughes thinks states aren’t going to cause drivers to slow and decrease gas consumption by lowering speed limits. The Guru wrote on Oct. 3 about states like Kansas where a lower speed limit is being discussed.
“No one is going to change driving habits until fines are so high that they think about it,” Hughes writes. “In the Baltic states, the fines are based on one’s income. Now that would give some of these people notice.”
A: Fines based on income ? Every journalist supports that.
There are non-Baltic states getting tough on speeders. Florida this month created a $ 1, 000 fine for those who drive 50 mph over the speed limit. That’s going at least 120 mph on the interstates.
The fine goes to $ 5, 000 for a third offense. Subsequent offenses could result in a 10-year loss of driving privileges. Robert J. Smith, aka The Guru, writes on traffic issues in Northwest Arkansas each Friday. He can be reached at gridlockguru@arkan sasonline. com.
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