Legislature questions AHTD response towinter road conditions

It’s interesting how fast the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and legislators can respond when something happens in the Little Rock area, or in this case east of Little Rock.

Scott Bennett, director of the Highway Department, found himself in front of a joint transportation committee Tuesday to explain what happened when last week’s round of snow, sleet and ice struck, and motorists were stranded for hours on Interstates 40 and 55. One instance of slow response by the Highway Department in eastern Arkansas prompted calling the highway director on the carpet before a legislative committee.

What about the slow response in northern Arkansas where people were stranded at their homes and unable to get to work, medical appointments and other important engagements? What about schools having to close because buses couldn’t even run snow routes and, even if they could, parents couldn’t get their children to the buses? Or businesses closed because customers couldn’t travel?

And this wasn’t just for a few hours; this was for days on end through storm after storm since the week after Thanksgiving. Why wasn’t the Legislature concerned about how the Highway Department handled that?

I at least hope Rep. Scott Baltz of Pocahontas and Rep. John R. Payton of Wilburn, who represent small parts of Baxter County and others counties in this region and are on the House Public Transportation Committee, expressed concern to Mr. Bennett about the winter road situation here in the northern part of Arkansas. Actually, I hope they were aware of the situation here, even if their local constituency is only a small part of their overall districts.

For us, this has been a harsh winter with storms disrupting normal activity in our area of the state. The weather’s affected other areas as well —75 school districts are trying to get snow-day waivers from the state —but being a bit provincial I’m concerned about our area.

There’s no doubt Arkansas is unprepared for such weather. The traditional argument has been winters aren’t that bad in Arkansas, even though we seem to be getting a lot more snow and ice. Mr. Bennett told the committee members the Highway Department has spent about $18 million this fiscal year clearing ice and snow, compared to $5 million last year.

This may be an unusual winter, but it’s better to have adequate equipment and personnel on hand to deal with the problem and not need them than it is to need the equipment and personnel and not have them. That goes for city and county government, too.

Apparently Mr. Bennett has seen photos displaying the contrast between Arkansas highways where they crossed into Missouri —their pavement clear, ours nowhere to be seen beneath the ice and snow —and heard complaints about the differences. His response was that Missouri has more snow plows and more employees “to cover a smaller area than does Arkansas.”

He told the committee the Highway Department needs more snow plows and more people for snow and ice removal. That’s an understatement. I saw where a wife of a local Highway Department employee commented that there were nine men on a crew responsible for clearing 400 lane miles here, so more personnel is a definite necessity.

The department needs more than just a couple of snow plows and removal equipment, too, and it needs equipment and additional personnel somewhere besides just the Little Rock area. Perhaps the Highway Department could take a lesson from Entergy or North Arkansas Electric Cooperative and dispatch crews and equipment from areas unaffected by winter storms to those areas where more help is needed.

In addition to learning from Missouri, the Highway Department needs to find out how states where ice and snow are a way life keep everything functioning throughout winter. They don’t close everything down and let out schools just because it snows; they keep their roads clear and life goes on normally.

I’m not going to criticize the road crews —state, county and city —because they did the best they could with what they have. They cleared the roads their bosses told them to clear. They worked long, cold hours and deserve more than a pat on the back. It’s up to the bosses to account for the decisions of why some roads were ignored and others were cleared, of how and why the priorities were set.

Meanwhile, let’s hope the Legislature acts to better equip the Highway Department before a winter like this happens again.