MPO still concerned with pedestrians crossing the interstate

MPO still concerned with pedestrians crossing the interstate

Brawley: ‘Its a statewide problem, not just our problem.’

news@theeveningtimes.com

The study of pedestrians crossing the Interstate Interchange in West Memphis staled. The Metropolitan Planning Organization heard complaints from hotel owner Harry Patel in February 2017 after a pedestrian fatality on the freeway in front of his hotel.

“Where Interstate 40 and 55 run together people have been getting killed,” Patel told MPO Commissioners.

“So far there have been five people that got killed.”

Patel even suggested remedies for the problem area he pointed to stretching between Martin Luther King Boulevard to Southland Park Gaming & Racing.

“If we can get something on the Interstate, concrete barriers, spikes or something then people could not cross the Interstate and be killed anymore,” said Patel. A University of Arkansas graduate student put the West Memphis matter under study and conducted a needs survey.

Authorities expressed concern over the fatalities of pedestrian crossing utilities crossing fatalities across the state, particularly around Little Rock.

Arkansas Department of Highways administrator Paul Simms told the MPO in 2017 that the West Memphis Concerns had sparked a national highway safety literature review study.

“We felt it could be a statewide study and project but then the was this could be something of a concern to other parts of the country,” said Simms. “So we submitted an application to the national highway cooperative.”

Remedies discussed at the initial meeting included tightly placed upright glare reflectors atop the jersey barrier wall in the center median or tall fences along the edges of the expressway. Fencing was thought too unsightly along the stretch that included Southland Casino, the state’s largest tourist attraction.

Study Director Eddie Brawley delivered an updated status report during both the citizens meeting and the policy meeting in February. The concept was back to square one.

“Its a statewide problem, not just our problem,” said Brawley. “They came up with no recommendations other than the ones we’ve first discussed, like the barriers on top of the wall to make it harder for them to get over. There was nothing that made sense at the current time.”

By John Rech