ROGERS — Residents living on or near a proposed five-lane north and south corridor connecting Lowell and Rogers got a look at alternate routes Thursday.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, Lowell and Rogers officials answered questions from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Annex School on First Street in Rogers.
By 6 p.m., more than 140 residents picked up a copy of the alternate routes and a packet explaining how the Highway Department handles such projects.
The packet also contained a questionnaire where visitors could pick which route they preferred and add comments.
“We’re having a very good turnout for the public hearing,” said Randy Ort, spokesman for the department. “We will take the information we get from residents tonight, put it with the environmental impact study and other previously gathered information and make a decision on a preferred route by the end of the year.”
The proposed route runs from Arkansas 264 in Springdale north on Old Wire Road through Bethel Heights to Lowell and finally across Rogers. Each alternative section of the corridor had a letter attached. Residents could chose a combination of letters to signify their route preference.
There were eight proposed alternative routes from which residents could chose.
The packet also contained the expected cost, total land impacted, number of residents impacted, the number of miles and other information to help residents determine which route they might prefer.
Three Lowell neighbors — Pat Jackman, Frankie Jackson and Lynn Graham — said they thought only one route made good sense.
Jackman, holding her finger on one section of the map, said she thought the best route would be “A” “C” and “F.” “A” is Old Wire Road from Arkansas 264 to just past McClure Avenue in Lowell. “C” is a new stretch of road that would have to be built to run north to Pleasant Grove Road in Rogers and connect with “F,” which is First Street.
“That’s the route that affects the smallest number of properties, people and costs the least to build,” Jackman said.
The projected cost of the six-mile “ACF” combination is $47.8 million. Some other combinations exceed $60 million, according to a Highway Department chart. Only 21 property owners would be affected by the corridor.
Other combinations would affect up to 51 property owners.
The trio of neighbors did have some doubts about the connectivity of the corridor with other north/south routes, such as U.S. 71B and Intestate 540.
“There are only three streets that run east and west to connect with other roads,” Jackson said. “There’s Apple Blossom Avenue, McClure Avenue, which is not a good connection because of the school on McClure and Pleasant Grove Road. There needs to be some other connections. That should be part of the planning.”
Lowell Mayor Eldon Long, who also attended the hearing, said the city was working on more connectivity.
“We have plans to widen McClure Avenue and we have a proposed street on our master street plan to connect I-540 to the proposed corridor,” Long said.
The project, known as Garrett Road, will have an interchange on I-540 and run east to the proposed corridor.
Garrett Road is also on the Rogers master street plan, according to Steve Glass, Rogers director of Planning and Transportation.
Generally most of those attending the hearing thought the corridor was a good idea, but not every one did.
Stephen Peterson, who lives east of Lowell, said the corridor was too little, too late.
“They should have built I-540 as a six-lane highway in the first place,” Peterson said. “Building this corridor, based on the cost, won’t do as much as a six-lane I-540 would have done in the beginning. By the time they get this built, we will need another corridor. We should learn to plan better.”
After the state makes the decision on the preferred route, the project can get under way, Ort said.
“We would survey and design the route and then conduct another public hearing once we know where the right of way will be and begin land acquisition,” Ort said. “We hope to be on this section of the corridor sometime next year.”
The state has $25 million slated for the project.
“All of the construction estimates are at least double that what we have for the project right now,” Ort said. “We will have to build the corridor in stages as money become available.”