Our View

Our View

Let Highway Dept. hear your concerns with online survey

We know of no one who hasn’t complained at one time or another about the condition of our state’s roads, particularly here in Crittenden County where there doesn’t seem to be a major street, highway or service road that isn’t in need of some form of repair or total repaving.

Until now, it appears all our frustration and complaining has fallen on deaf ears. But it seems now the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is listening and has created an online survey for the sole purpose of gathering input from Arkansans on how they believe future infrastructure dollars should be spent.

We’re told input obtained through the survey will help the highway department develop the Long Range Intermodal Transportation Plan, which will be a comprehensive document detaining goals, objectives, policies, investment strategies, and performance measures to guide future transportation investments.

The plan will also cover all aspects of the state’s transportation system, including highways, bridges, public transportation, railways, bicycle and pedestrian ways, ports and water ways, and aviation.

Once we’ve all thrown in our suggestions and complaints by no later than September 16 the results will be made public. Based on what we’ve seen the survey leaves little room for our personal comments on the issue with responses restricted to multiple choice answers to specific questions.

So then, for those of us who would like to be more specific about our road situation beyond selecting the best possible survey choice allow us to point out some fine examples of how our financially enhanced state road department, as well as other government entities charged with fixing our roads, can better spend our tax dollars.

For example, there is a desperate need to overlay the darn service roads in our county, particularly the Southside service road that runs east and west in front of Walmart in West Memphis. It is terrible, especially near Walmart and approaching the Missouri Street intersection.

Seventh Street is another fine example of gross negligence as is the case of numerous railroad crossings such as Seventh Street, the Southside service road at Missouri Street and particularly the crossing on College Boulevard north of the interstate.

While we have to admit that Marion does a pretty good job of taking care of its city streets, West Memphis could certainly focus on streets like the heavily traveled Clement Road, between U.S. Hwy. 70 and the Interstate 40.

These are but a few of the examples of how local, state politicians and bureaucrats can better spend our road money, and we’re sure there are many other examples that frustrated taxpayers can bring up without too much forethought whatsoever.

Oh sure, the bureaucrats will holler they simply don’t have enough money and politicians will say the only solution is to just raise taxes while all along closing a blind eye to reallocating existing tax dollars and focusing on improved financial accountability. Meanwhile, surveys will be taken to hopefully appease the complaining masses while solutions to some of the problems we mentioned will remain frustrations.