Cantrell concerns are known

Dear Sir: Cantrell Road needs resurfacing, especially from Keightly east to Chester Street. Someone needs to drive this stretch and you will see. — Peter

Dear Peter: Tony Evans, District 6 engineer for the Arkansas Department of Transportation, told us he gets frequent comments and concerns about Arkansas 10, or Cantrell Road, all the way from the Perry County line to downtown Little Rock.

As well he should. It has more traffic than the moon has green cheese, as Mama used to say.

Dear Drive Time Mahatma: If there was a contest for the roughest paved road in Arkansas, I’d vote for Arkansas 10 between Goodson Road and the Perry County line. I’m old enough to remember when Highway 10 from Perryville to the Ranch in western Pulaski County was gravel and it was smoother than this pavement. — Buford

Dear Buford: Did we mention Tony Evans, chief engineer for District 6 of the Arkansas Department of Transportation?

We did. Here he is again. He tells us of several road repair projects on Arkansas 10 that have either been recently completed or are planned for the reasonably near future. Is 2026 reasonably near, or impossibly far? Readers may decide.

■ Goodson Road to Chenal Parkway, completed in 2023.

■ Chenal Parkway to Taylor Loop, completed in 2023.

■ Pleasant Ridge to Pleasant Valley, completed in 2023.

■ Arkansas 9 to Lake Maumelle, scheduled for 2025.

■ Taylor Loop Road to Pleasant Ridge, scheduled for 2025.

■ Mississippi Avenue to North Schiller Street, scheduled for 2025.

■ Lake Maumelle to Goodson Road, scheduled for 2026.

The biggie among upcoming projects could be Taylor Loop Drive to Pleasant Ridge Drive, a distance of about 2.3 miles. Daily traffic counts there reach 51,000 vehicles, according to an ARDOT environmental assessment.

The plan calls for a widening to six lanes with a raised median and intersection improvements. Estimated cost is $22.1 million in 2021 dollars. Did someone mention inflation?

Dear Mahatma: During a recent trip to Wilson along Interstates 40 and 55, I was appalled by the amount of tire debris along the side of the interstates. There was even tire debris within the lanes, and I had to straddle it or drive on the shoulder. Does ARDOT ever clean the tire debris? — Vicki

Dear Vicki: This is what is known in the newspaper biz as an evergreen. In fact, this is one of the very first questions we answered in this space in a previous decade.

The answer has changed somewhat. We used to tell readers to call their local office of the Arkansas Highway Department. We now tell readers to contact the Arkansas Department of Transportation via the idrivearkansas website.

A thought: Please don’t walk or run onto an interstate to pick up tire debris. Because, oh baby, that would be dangerous.

Vanity plate on an SUV: PAM TOY.