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Northwest Arkansas I-540 Improvements

Started by M86, September 07, 2013, 04:55:38 AM

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M86

http://5newsonline.com/2013/09/06/i-540-widening-project-in-nwa-set-to-begin/

Widening of I-540 from Wedington Drive to Porter Road will begin next month.  I'm trying to figure out if AHTD is going to take the cheap route and just widen I-540 to 3 lanes in each direction from Bentonville to Fayetteville, or if they're actually going to construct the 8 lanes/auxiliary lanes, as was recommended in the study.

It doesn't make sense to just add a lane and then go back and add lanes if they're needed.


US71

Quote from: M86 on September 07, 2013, 04:55:38 AM
http://5newsonline.com/2013/09/06/i-540-widening-project-in-nwa-set-to-begin/

Widening of I-540 from Wedington Drive to Porter Road will begin next month.  I'm trying to figure out if AHTD is going to take the cheap route and just widen I-540 to 3 lanes in each direction from Bentonville to Fayetteville, or if they're actually going to construct the 8 lanes/auxiliary lanes, as was recommended in the study.

It doesn't make sense to just add a lane and then go back and add lanes if they're needed.

Considering AHTD just wasted all that money on cable barriers in that area, I think they will do it "on the cheap".
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

M86

Quote from: US71 on September 09, 2013, 09:26:01 PM
Quote from: M86 on September 07, 2013, 04:55:38 AM
http://5newsonline.com/2013/09/06/i-540-widening-project-in-nwa-set-to-begin/

Widening of I-540 from Wedington Drive to Porter Road will begin next month.  I'm trying to figure out if AHTD is going to take the cheap route and just widen I-540 to 3 lanes in each direction from Bentonville to Fayetteville, or if they're actually going to construct the 8 lanes/auxiliary lanes, as was recommended in the study.

It doesn't make sense to just add a lane and then go back and add lanes if they're needed.

Considering AHTD just wasted all that money on cable barriers in that area, I think they will do it "on the cheap".


My thoughts exactly!  As many accidents that I see on 540, the cable median barrier is a bandage on a gaping wound.

And I say that, because I remember reading an article about the Bella Vista Bypass, constructing a super 2, and someone at MODOT said from a cost stand point, it makes no sense to build 2 lanes and go back and build the rest.


US71

Maybe things will change after this latest project, but coming home from Missouri the other day, I was the only one using the third lane. No one seems to know or care about the extra lane. Of course, when the lane ended, it seemed like everyone sped up to keep me from merging  :banghead:
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

M86

Quote from: US71 on September 14, 2013, 08:36:13 AM
Maybe things will change after this latest project, but coming home from Missouri the other day, I was the only one using the third lane. No one seems to know or care about the extra lane. Of course, when the lane ended, it seemed like everyone sped up to keep me from merging  :banghead:

I've noticed it too, but it's because that section is only a mile long, and a lot are exiting at MLK Blvd going south.  Really, that 3rd lane is useless until it's extended.  But it's a start.

US71

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

M86

Quote from: US71 on December 19, 2013, 10:07:58 AM
http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas/northwest/highway-department-to-expand-i540-to-six-lanes/-/8897460/23558078/-/isva70z/-/index.html

Work ia about to begin adding extra lanes to I-540 between Wagon Wheel Rd and AR 264 at Lowell.

Yep, the orange barrels are in place.  That section, according to the 2006 study, should be 4 lanes in each direction.
Leave it up to AHTD to put a Band-Aid on... And they'll rip up all of that cable-median barrier that they installed within the past year!

US71

Quote from: M86 on December 23, 2013, 03:53:15 AM
Quote from: US71 on December 19, 2013, 10:07:58 AM
http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas/northwest/highway-department-to-expand-i540-to-six-lanes/-/8897460/23558078/-/isva70z/-/index.html

Work ia about to begin adding extra lanes to I-540 between Wagon Wheel Rd and AR 264 at Lowell.

Yep, the orange barrels are in place.  That section, according to the 2006 study, should be 4 lanes in each direction.
Leave it up to AHTD to put a Band-Aid on... And they'll rip up all of that cable-median barrier that they installed within the past year!

That's what they did for US 62 to AR 16 :pan:

I've not had a chance to take a good look at the ChickenmanDon Tyson Parkway interchange, but at a glance it appears 540 will be 2 lanes each direction. Cost less money, y'know.  :banghead: :banghead:
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

bjrush

#8
I believe Don Tyson interchange accounted for an 8-lane I-540

That'll be the day

ETA: Will  add pic of plans later
Woo Pig Sooie

US71

Quote from: bjrush on December 23, 2013, 02:29:29 PM
I believe Don Tyson interchange accounted for an 8-lane I-540

That'll be the day

ETA: Will  add pic of plans later


Honestly? It doesn't look like it to me.
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

bjrush

Woo Pig Sooie

M86

#11
Great... As it should be.  Proper planning... No rocket scientists involved.

Bjrush, you know I want roadway lighting... It's an urban area for gosh sakes... Do you know if the Don Tyson interchange will have lighting?

What will I need to do to have roadway lighting installed on urban interstates and possibly state-maintained highways and arterials?



txstateends

Quote from: M86 on December 24, 2013, 02:29:17 AM
you know I want roadway lighting... It's an urban area for gosh sakes... Do you know if the Don Tyson interchange will have lighting?

What will I need to do to have roadway lighting installed on urban interstates and possibly state-maintained highways and arterials?


Showing an *extreme* financial interest toward one or more of those types that gather under a Capitol dome??  At this rate, it sounds like just patting backs and shaking hands isn't going to work.  Since the interchange will be named for him, see if Don or one of his little friends is interested in seeing their way around that interchange at night.

For real though, if there hasn't been any lights in pretty much ever, it sounds like a DOT housecleaning is in order to get new blood/new thinking in there (oh, sorry, I forgot, that doesn't happen that much in AR :-( )
\/ \/ click for a bigger image \/ \/

bjrush

I looked through the final executed construction documents, the only lighting is on the bridge itself.

I think emailing Scott Bennett could get a response. If you found and referenced a few studies showing safety benefits of it while also being cost justified, I think you could get his attention. I think he has a pretty good chance at being our sought after "new blood". Bennett is what I would call a "21st century" engineer; someone who understands the old way isn't always the best way and that civil engineers aren't just supposed to say "add more concrete". Granted, it doesn't make the uphill climb he has ahead of him any shorter, but change does start from the top down. I think his hands are tied in a lot of avenues he wants to pursue.

Something I would like to enter as evidence of my point of view is the following statement from Bennett about the criticism of AHTD during the recent ice storm.

"We are aware of and frustrated by the unsatisfactory conditions that persisted too long in some areas. We also know situations like this create perceptions that can only be addressed by improving the results we achieve, and that's what we intend to do"

Although speaking about a specific subject, the bold phrase seems more applicable to an overall ideology and vision held by Bennett. I believe he wants to change the overall perception of AHTD for the better.

Also, FYI Don Tyson died in 2011.
Woo Pig Sooie

M86

Quote from: bjrush on December 24, 2013, 02:48:09 PM
I looked through the final executed construction documents, the only lighting is on the bridge itself.

I think emailing Scott Bennett could get a response. If you found and referenced a few studies showing safety benefits of it while also being cost justified, I think you could get his attention. I think he has a pretty good chance at being our sought after "new blood". Bennett is what I would call a "21st century" engineer; someone who understands the old way isn't always the best way and that civil engineers aren't just supposed to say "add more concrete". Granted, it doesn't make the uphill climb he has ahead of him any shorter, but change does start from the top down. I think his hands are tied in a lot of avenues he wants to pursue.

Something I would like to enter as evidence of my point of view is the following statement from Bennett about the criticism of AHTD during the recent ice storm.

"We are aware of and frustrated by the unsatisfactory conditions that persisted too long in some areas. We also know situations like this create perceptions that can only be addressed by improving the results we achieve, and that's what we intend to do"

Although speaking about a specific subject, the bold phrase seems more applicable to an overall ideology and vision held by Bennett. I believe he wants to change the overall perception of AHTD for the better.

Also, FYI Don Tyson died in 2011.

Where can I find those final construction documents, if I may ask?

And there are plenty of studies about the lighting... I can't wait to dig them up and present them.

My favorite AHTD oddity is not signing concurrent routes.  And the response I got from an engineer at AHTD was *paraphrase* "Well, I was in Dothan, Alabama, and they had an assembly that had so many route markers, it was just so confusing".

I gave him an example:  I'm traveling on US 62 from Eureka Springs, AR (a touristy place) and I'd like to follow US 62 to Oklahoma.  Once you get on I-540 there are no signs for US 62 (It's a US Highway, How can that not be signed?!)

Here in Rogers, you can't follow AR 12.  It's a mess for that route.  AR 12 shields are in just random places.




US71

Quote from: M86 on December 27, 2013, 03:05:21 AM
Quote from: bjrush on December 24, 2013, 02:48:09 PM
I looked through the final executed construction documents, the only lighting is on the bridge itself.

I think emailing Scott Bennett could get a response. If you found and referenced a few studies showing safety benefits of it while also being cost justified, I think you could get his attention. I think he has a pretty good chance at being our sought after "new blood". Bennett is what I would call a "21st century" engineer; someone who understands the old way isn't always the best way and that civil engineers aren't just supposed to say "add more concrete". Granted, it doesn't make the uphill climb he has ahead of him any shorter, but change does start from the top down. I think his hands are tied in a lot of avenues he wants to pursue.

Something I would like to enter as evidence of my point of view is the following statement from Bennett about the criticism of AHTD during the recent ice storm.

"We are aware of and frustrated by the unsatisfactory conditions that persisted too long in some areas. We also know situations like this create perceptions that can only be addressed by improving the results we achieve, and that's what we intend to do"

Although speaking about a specific subject, the bold phrase seems more applicable to an overall ideology and vision held by Bennett. I believe he wants to change the overall perception of AHTD for the better.

Also, FYI Don Tyson died in 2011.

Where can I find those final construction documents, if I may ask?

And there are plenty of studies about the lighting... I can't wait to dig them up and present them.

My favorite AHTD oddity is not signing concurrent routes.  And the response I got from an engineer at AHTD was *paraphrase* "Well, I was in Dothan, Alabama, and they had an assembly that had so many route markers, it was just so confusing".

I gave him an example:  I'm traveling on US 62 from Eureka Springs, AR (a touristy place) and I'd like to follow US 62 to Oklahoma.  Once you get on I-540 there are no signs for US 62 (It's a US Highway, How can that not be signed?!)

Here in Rogers, you can't follow AR 12.  It's a mess for that route.  AR 12 shields are in just random places.




AR 72 isn't any better. WB "ends" at the 71 Expressway then "begins" again at Walton Blvd.

*In theory* I think it follows 71 South to 102, 102 to 71B, then back north to Central.

12 is confusing as Hell.  It either follows 540 to 62 (as posted on the exit signs) or follows 94 (8th St/Hudson Rd).
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

M86

Quote from: US71 on December 27, 2013, 08:49:20 AM
AR 72 isn't any better. WB "ends" at the 71 Expressway then "begins" again at Walton Blvd.

*In theory* I think it follows 71 South to 102, 102 to 71B, then back north to Central.

12 is confusing as Hell.  It either follows 540 to 62 (as posted on the exit signs) or follows 94 (8th St/Hudson Rd).
I don't know for sure, but I think AHTD turned over AR 72 to the City of Bentonville, between I-540 and Walton.  And now you have a big disconnect.

I've seen these "transfer from state DOT to local", and they usually keep/upkeep the signage up for the route, at least when it comes to route numbers and connectivity.

But then again, route numbers and reassurance shields don't mean anything in Arkansas.


US71

Quote from: M86 on December 29, 2013, 04:38:22 AM
Quote from: US71 on December 27, 2013, 08:49:20 AM
AR 72 isn't any better. WB "ends" at the 71 Expressway then "begins" again at Walton Blvd.

*In theory* I think it follows 71 South to 102, 102 to 71B, then back north to Central.

12 is confusing as Hell.  It either follows 540 to 62 (as posted on the exit signs) or follows 94 (8th St/Hudson Rd).
I don't know for sure, but I think AHTD turned over AR 72 to the City of Bentonville, between I-540 and Walton.  And now you have a big disconnect.

I've seen these "transfer from state DOT to local", and they usually keep/upkeep the signage up for the route, at least when it comes to route numbers and connectivity.

But then again, route numbers and reassurance shields don't mean anything in Arkansas.



IIRC, Bentonville didn't want trucks through downtown and asked AHTD to reroute 72. It wasa first rerouted down SE J St (AR 112) until it was given back to the city.  I've seen one or two trailblazers for 72 near 102 & 71B, but it's not marked otherwise.
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

M86

http://www.4029tv.com/news/arkansas/northwest/construction-signs-confuse-drivers-on-i540/-/8897460/23703718/-/rlre2sz/-/index.html

It's that stupid double yellow line... Again, bad planning and bad execution of highway projects in Arkansas.  Nothing new here.

Arkansastravelguy


Quote from: M86 on December 24, 2013, 02:29:17 AM
Great... As it should be.  Proper planning... No rocket scientists involved.

Bjrush, you know I want roadway lighting... It's an urban area for gosh sakes... Do you know if the Don Tyson interchange will have lighting?

What will I need to do to have roadway lighting installed on urban interstates and possibly state-maintained highways and arterials?

For what it's worth the bridge will be lighted by streetlamps


iPhone



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