LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A project intended to reduce the number of wrong way crashes on Arkansas interstates has been tabled after being determined to be too expensive.
The only bid for the project that targeted 285 of Arkansas’ 528 interstate on-ramps, was $3.8 million, $1 million more than estimated when the proposal was announced publicly in February.
The plan and included replacing Wrong Way, Do Not Enter and One Way signs at on-ramps with signs that had brighter sheeting and were lower so they’d be better illuminated by headlights and be more visible at night. The plan also wanted to install more noticeable wrong-way pavement arrows, directional arrows, yield lines and stop lines, as well as reflectors so drivers going the wrong way on an on-ramp would see red reflections.
The improvements could help older drivers who are “over-represented” in wrong-way crashes, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which recommends signs, markings and lighting to “make exit ramps readily distinguishable from entrance ramps.”
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department spokesman Danny Straessle told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (https://bit.ly/2eUOuoj ) there is no timetable for re-bidding the project. Agency officials want to review the project to “see if there is anything that can be tweaked” to make it more affordable, he said.
There have been at least four wrong-way crashes on Arkansas interstates this year, including one in August in which a state trooper was critically injured when a driver collided head-on with him on Interstate 40 in Van Buren. The driver was killed.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, https://www.arkansasonline.com
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