So, I was a little suspicious when the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department announced — surprise! — that maybe it could replace the Broadway Bridge without taking it out of service for two years and creating hell downtown. After resisting earlier entreaties for an alternative location, the department suddenly said this week that it could build a new bridge alongside and then convert the old bridge to a pedestrian span, at a lower cost maybe.

Local officials will mull over the idea. It will create an architectural disaster, that much is clear. A new bridge upriver and a truly fine pedestrian mall at Broadway after its completion is the far better resolution. But the highway department fears it must take and spend available federal money now or risk never getting it again. With Tea Partyers lurking, this isn't as crazy a notion as it might seem.

Anyway, I asked for any internal department documents relevant to the evolution of a new bridge design. I'm about to dump on you everything I got. I think I can boil it down to this essence:

The Highway Department actually studied years ago two alternatives to build a Broadway replacement alongside the existing structure, but demolition and replacement was deemed the preferable course. A plan to put the replacement on the east side couldn't be done because it would have endangered an archaeological site. When local officials began objecting to a closure of the bridge for as much as two years because of economic impact, highway officials said they were obligated to reconsider the old alternative, a new replacement on the west side. And so it was rolled out this week, after being drawn up two years ago.

Have some time? You may want to browse through the following documents and drawings responsive to my FOI:

• NEW PLAN: A new idea would retain old Broadway Bridge and build new bridge parallel to the west.

Here's an engineering blueprint for the surprise plan unveiled yesterday by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to build a new bridge alongside the existing Broadway Bridge rather than demolish and replace the structure.

This arose because of huge local opposition to removal of the bridge and closure of the route — with a hellish downtown traffic impact — for as much as two years. Local highway commissioners got involved and a plan that couldn't possibly be altered for a different location upstream suddenly has been altered for a different location upstream, if only slightly upstream.

It will be an engineering monstrosity — a jumble of concrete and steel with no unifying architectural look. It won't be the defining landmark city dreamers once envisioned. But it will avoid a prolonged closure, though I've heard estimates of three weeks to three months for the changeover that will be necessary.

So that you can see the drawings in larger relief than possible above, I'm giving you links to three PDFs.

1) A larger version of the new proposal shown above.

2) The original plan to replace the bridge.

3) A plan that includes an alternative to avoid a major power line.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department floated a surprise new proposal today for replacement of the Broadway Bridge. It would, in short, preserve the old bridge while building a new bridge along the west side. The old bridge then could be converted to a pedestrian/bike path. The plan would avoid the problem of closing the bridge for construction for up to two years. There might be a brief period of closure — say three weeks or so — to transition from an old bridge to the new one for auto traffic.

Two highway commissioners met with Mayors Mark Stodola and Pat Hays and County Judge Buddy Villines and members of local planning agencies.

Concerns were identified about the discordant appearance of two stylistically different bridges, one, the new one, six feet higher than the other. "Butt ugly," is how one participant described the concept to me. The cities also were concerned about their costs to maintain the old bridge, which would pass into their ownership. Cost estimates are somewhat flexible on the new, surprise plan. It would curve into Broadway on the Little Rock side. The construction would interfere at least temporarily with parking for the Dickey-Stephens baseball park in North Little Rock.

The mayors of Little Rock and North Little Rock had been pushing, instead of a 24-month closing, to build a new bridge at Chester Street and then convert the old Broadway Bridge to a pedestrian link. The Highway Department said that idea was too cumbersome to accomplish without endangering federal money currently obligated to the replacement project. Highway officials said they thought they could get this new project underway in time to still qualify for the federal money. Some money allocated for demolition of the existing bridge could be used for rehab of that bridge for other uses, it was noted. That could be $3 million in savings.

Local officials were surprised by the proposal. They'll have to do some study before forming a firm reaction and had a number of questions at today's meeting. There were no renderings of the project to consider today, but some drawings of the route were shown and I hope to have some to show before long.

A not-so-happy traveler used a cell phone to send this photo of the security line at midday at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. Commentary:

Another 40 minute line at midday. 2 x-ray machines, 1 body scanner & 1 id checker

1 of the worst airports in USA

I'm not ready to blame the airport. But tales of longer waits to clear Little Rock airport security have gone beyond anecdotal to received wisdom. The issue has come up before the airport commission and has been discussed in newspaper articles and among travelers. I don't know the cause or solution. But until somebody can show me otherwise, I tend to blame the new full body scanners. They take more time to pass through, they seem to trigger a warning more often and the resulting pat-down consumes time. I noticed in O'Hare recently that the full body imaging machine wasn't being used during a morning crush I passed through. Coincidental? Maybe. But a good thing, too.

I was flooded this morning with notes from readers about a story for today's New York Times. It described how a bridge in Boston was replaced over a weekend.

By using “accelerated bridge construction” techniques, a collection of technologies and methods that can shave months if not years off the process of building and replacing critical infrastructure, Massachusetts is at the forefront of a national effort that is aimed at putting drivers first.

No need to bother to ask the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to explain why such techniques couldn't be employed in Arkansas, say at the Broadway Bridge the department is so anxious to replace. (Although there's no evidence it is unsafe or that the maintenance of the concrete structure, at $90,000 a year or so, is that expensive.)

The most pertinent part of the article was this:

“The highway department didn’t use to see the drivers as customers,” said Frank DePaola, administrator of the highway division for the department. “For a while there, the highway department was so focused on construction and road projects, it’s almost as if the contractors became their customers.”

I urge you to remember this truism when you consider the sales tax increase highway officials want you to pass this November. Remember it, too, when you are losing valuable time and money during the two years of traffic nightmare that will ensue when the AHTD shuts down the Broadway Bridge for a replacement that, now, only they seem to want. Call AHTD. Ask them to join the local mayors in a push for a longer-range, better plan. Build another crossing upriver, then convert the Broadway bridge to a landmark plaza for walkers, bikers, sightseers.

• MoveArkansas
• BIKE CRASH: At scene of yesterday's accident on Cantrell at Collegiate School.

Blogger Tim McKuin's MoveArkansas blog is back on a favorite unpleasant topic today — the city's failure after lo these many years to provide a proper space for the part of the alleged River Trail that must use a narrow sidealk along Cantrell where it passes between the Episcopal Collegiate School and Dillard's. He came across another bike/car crash at the Episcopal entrance yesterday.

There's ample right of way to design a solution, McKuin argues, and it's not the $15 million or so cantilevered homeless hotel the city has envisioned for the cliffside behind the Dillard's building, particularly since the likelihood of spare federal dollars raining down on the ancient dream project seems unlikely.

McKuin doesn't blame bicyclist or motorist for this wreck, but the failure to properly design this stretch of transportation link for all users. He illustrates with a video done by others about the difficulty of negotiating that intersection on a bike or foot.

If we design and build for cars, then the result will be more cars. If we design and build for choice and balance in transportation mode, then people will make balanced choices. The second way is less expensive and pays off later with lower maintenance costs. Plus, traffic will still flow fine; there will be fewer injuries and death from crashes; we'll have less road rage; and maybe we can use some of that wasted surface parking in downtown LR for higher and better uses when more people are able to get there without driving. Heck, we might even improve our health. Simple. Easy. What're we waiting for?

UPDATE: A couple of bikers who've labored for years on this issue — and who know about the $1 million Sam Ledbetter won at the legislature about five years ago to solve the problem — suggest it's time for some civil dialogue and leadership, say from Mayor Stodola. Why not convene a meeting with Episcopal Collegiate about a plan to branch off from an existing railroad bridge under the Cantrell viaduct and take a course around the back of the school, outside its fence? This eliminates the Cantrell passage entirely. A significant sum is already on hand to start the work. The city is better fixed than it has been thanks to new sales tax money. This is a better alternative than a rumored alternate path, if the cantilevered covered corridor isn't built on Dillard's river bluff, being considered on the north side of Cantrell that would mean traversing about five driveways at Dillard's, the Packet House, the Dillard's computer building and other curb cuts.

• I-40 NEAR CACHE RIVER: All open starting tonight. But next year ...

Experienced some traffic slowdowns on Interstate 40 lately?

Sure you have if you've been on the freeway west of Brinkley. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department started work in September on a $56-million project to improve the road from the Cache River bridge 10 miles west. This has required lane closures in both directions. Closures will be lifted tonight and all four lanes will be open through the holiday season. But, by way of fair warning, said David Nilles of the Highway Department:

Our staff has been monitoring the situation this week and is meeting today to discuss ways to improve traffic flow through the area when work resumes.

In January, the lane closures will return in that area. Again, there will be one lane closed in each direction. The closures are expected to remain in place through mid 2013. We are advising motorists to plan ahead and consider using alternate routes through the Cache River area. Possible routes include U.S. Highways 70 and 79 south of Interstate 40, and U.S. Highways 67 and 64 north of the Interstate.

We are looking at ways to reduce delay times when the closures return in January. Discussions are underway now.