Highway change gets panel’s OK
Posted: December 2, 2010 at 4:46 a.m.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Regional planners want to reduce U-turns on Arkansas 265 in Fayetteville by adding another median break when the highway is widened between Mission and Joyce boulevards.
The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday approved an extra break for 265 (called Crossover Road in Fayetteville) at Coy Kaylor Drive for better access to the 135-unit Paradise View Apartments. Planners hope the access will reduce the number of potential Coy Kaylor motorists making U-turns at Par Court and Joyce.
The Fayetteville City Council approved the measure in September.
For the break to be included in the widening project, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department must give its approval. The original median cuts at Joyce, Par Court, Old WireRoad and Candlewood Drive were approved by all parties last winter.
Spokesman Randy Ort said there’s no guarantee that Highway Department staff will approve the new break.
“We’ll re-evaluate, but it doesn’t mean we’ll make the change,” Ort “This is still our highway.”
Ort said he’s not sure if evaluation of the proposed change will affect the project’s construction schedule.
Work is expected to begin this summer and conclude in two years, highway officials said. The 2.19-mile project is estimated to cost $15.4 million, with Fayetteville and the Highway Department splitting the cost. Right-ofway has been acquired, and utility work is 40 percent complete.
When the project is finished, the highway will bef ive lanes from Mission Boulevard to Township Road and four lanes with the median between Township and Joyce.
John McClarty, a transportation planner with the regional panel, said the biggest concern locally is keeping extra traffic off busy Joyce Boulevard.
Real estate developer Jim Lindsey, who owns Paradise View Apartments, requested the additional median break and paid for a subsequent traffic study.
The study found that a cut at Coy Kaylor Drive could reduce U-turns at Joyce Boulevard by 82 per day during peak morning and afternoon hours, and by another 97 at Par Court during the same times.
The study also concluded that the proposed cut would not impact the project’s budget.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/02/2010
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