Mayor to resubmit Garland plan to state in person

By Robin Mero

Posted: July 30, 2009 at 7:07 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Mayor Lioneld Jordan will ask the Fayetteville City Council on Tuesday to vote on a final plan for widening Garland Avenue - using medians - then he'll drive to Little Rock the next dayand submit it to the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department.

Medians have been a sticking point in the cost-sharing project, but the highway department last week said it isn't as adamantly opposed to medians as city officials think.

Jordan will ask aldermen to decide between the exact plan previously submitted, which the City Council Street Committee approved in March - or reduce width from 89 to 83 feet.

Both projects include 5-foot wide bike lanes.

The narrower projectwould take less property from residences, he said, but new greenspace would be reduced.

Aldermen should make that decision because the city is paying for rights of way, and less is required for the 83-foot plan, he said.

The state is partneringwith Fayetteville to widen a three-quarter-mile section of Garland from the North Street intersection to Melmar Drive.

The state is contributing $1.5 million and design, while the city is responsible for right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation atabout $5 million.

The highway department in April wrote that "a continuous raised median through the project is not recommended" as too many driveways and streets would be cut off.

A suggestion to instead create several refuge islands was not popular with residents.

Alderman Kyle Cook, of Ward 4, said Wednesday he'll go with the full, 89-foot proposal, and doesn't want to compromise on medians.

The council decided all major roads should be boulevards with bike lanes and full medians, Cook said. Initially, residents of Ward 4 wanted three lanes, but have warmed up to a four-lane divided highway, Cook said.

"It's not one long median; it will have breaks," he said. "I do not want to build it like another Wedington road. It's going to be a major street, and we need to do it right, now."

News, Pages 1, 2 on 07/30/2009

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