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Ask Matt ... about Burt & Loni

Sewer pipes at Kanuga Road and Erkwood Drive.

By Bill Moss, Published: January 26, 2015

The Lightning's intrepid researcher Matt Matteson responds to readers' questions.

Q. What is the purpose of all that construction material lying on the ground at the intersection of Erkwood Drive and Kanuga Road?

That material is for a city sewer line project that will serve the north side of Lake Oceola, part of Old Kanuga Road and North Lakeside Drive including the Saddlebrook development. According to Hendersonville City Engineer Brent Detwiler, the project is designed to replace the problematic septic system at Atkinson Elementary School. Hall Contracting of Charlotte was awarded the contract last June and they have until next July to complete the project. They are the ones using the Kanuga Road property for staging. Although this site is zoned residential, temporary use of materials and storage trailers during construction is permitted. The properties being served by this project are outside the city limits.

Q. I heard that Burt Reynolds was having hard times financially. Didn't he once have a connection to this area?

Yes, Burt Reynolds was enchanted with Henderson County. The Georgia native, Florida State football standout and star of "Deliverance" and "Smokey and the Bandit" once performed at the Flat Rock Playhouse. He was in his second year of marriage to Loni Anderson, the blonde actress who played in "WKRP Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson.in Cincinnati," when the two first visited the Playhouse. A year later, in 1991, Burt came back to do a show called "Eleemosynary." That same year, Burt did his One Man Show. Dennis Mauldin, who created the set for the show, remembers Reynolds sitting in a leather chair, smoking and telling amusing stories of his life. Although all three performances were sold out, critics said the show dragged on too long. In 1992, Burt Reynolds thought enough about our little community to buy property in Kenmure subdivision. He never built on it and may have lost it in his divorce with Loni the next year. By all accounts the Burt-Loni split was one of Hollywood's nastiest divorces and I read that her name has come up recently in claims against Burt's estate —or what's left of it. Reynolds filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and sold his home in Florida. The 78-year-old actor has been auctioning his personal possessions in Las Vegas to raise cash. Items included artwork, trophies won, and movie mementos. Maybe we'll see the Bandit back in town sometime. In show business, one never knows.

Q. Do the push buttons mounted on poles downtown that are supposed to change the traffic lights for pedestrians really work?

There must be hundreds of those signal buttons on street corners all over town. You can find them on Spartanburg Highway, Asheville Highway, Brevard Road and Main Street. To sort it all out I bypassed the traffic engineers and dispatched a team of crack field researchers. Alpha Team investigated Church Street. The default duration for green lights on Church is about 53 seconds. Pushing the button shortened the pedestrian wait to cross by four seconds. Beta Team looked at Main Street where the green light stays green for about 33 seconds. There, activating the cross signal cut just three seconds of waiting time. Beta Team looked at Main Street where the green light stays green for about 33 seconds and activating the button cuts off about three seconds of waiting time. Mike Nebia, who knows Main Street crosswalks like no one else, says, "The lights are all timed and the buttons don't help." Finally Delta Team looked at King Street and reported that for some reason the lights stayed green for almost five minutes and may have gone longer but after pushing the crossing button another minute passed before the light changed. But here's the kicker, when a car on a side street approached King Street and stopped on the trip wire, it took only five seconds to change the light. Additional research indicated that the signalization is so complex that there is no exact answer for any location and that higher traffic volumes mean longer waits...but you already knew that. The bottom line here is that cars rule.

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