ROGERS — Property acquisition on two street projects that will reshape eastern Rogers is nearly complete, officials said.
Redesigning Monte Ne Road from New Hope Road to Arkansas Street, and widening First Street from Olrich Street to Arkansas Street, will improve access to downtown and open an area for new commerce, said Steve Glass, city planning and transportation director.
The projects are necessary, Glass said, to improve traffic on the east side of town which should increase business opportunities along the two streets.
Fast Facts
Street Projects
The Monte Ne Road and First Street projects will open routes to downtown and could create retail or business opportunities on the east side of the city.
• Monte Ne Road will become a four-lane road from New Hope Road to Arkansas Street. Twenty-seven homes will be razed for the project. The estimated cost of the project is $13 million.
• First Street will expand from two to five lanes. Two homes may be razed for the project. The estimated cost of the project is $3.5 million.
• Both projects are being paid for by the $134.5 million bond program paid for by a sales tax extension approved by the voters last year.
Source: Staff Report
The First Street project is also part of the proposed eastern corridor officials in Washington and Benton counties along with the state Highway Commission are working to build.
The eastern corridor is designed to provide another north/south road connecting Arkansas 16 in Washington County with U.S. 62 in Benton County.
The eastern corridor’s completion isn’t expected for several years, according to officials.
The Monte Ne Road and First Street projects will, at some point, provide access to the eastern corridor as it moves through Rogers, according to officials.
Business owners said both projects should be good for downtown.
“I think it will be very good for us downtown,” said Bruce Parker, owner of Dollar Saver, 101 W. Walnut St.
“It will bring more traffic within a half a block from my business, which should mean more customers. I like the idea,” Parker said.
John Mack of JKJ Architects, 116B W. Walnut St., said he favors any improvement helping facilitate traffic flow downtown.
“I do hope that sidewalks and bike paths are part of the project as well. We need to increase the density of the people living downtown and calm the traffic as it moves through downtown. I think it going to be beneficial for the area,” Mack said.
Monte Ne Road is the more expensive project. The city is buying 27 houses and several small sections of land along the section of road between Gum and Arkansas streets.
“We have acquired 16 houses thus far,” said Lance Jobe, a city engineer managing the north section of the Monte Ne Road project.
The city has spent $969,000 for the 16 properties. Jobe estimates the cost from property acquisition on the north section will be $2 million.
“We saved as many houses as we could along the route. If the road encroached on the house we bought the property,” Jobe said.
The remaining 11 properties have been appraised and offers made to owners, Jobe said.
“The property owners then have the opportunity to have their own appraisal done and negotiate with the city. That’s where we are on 10 of those properties. There is one property owner in Utah we are having trouble reaching, but we are working on it,” Jobe said.
If city officials are unable to reach an agreement with an owner, officials can take the property using eminent domain, or the power of the state to take private property without the owner's consent.
“We try to avoid that if at all possible,” Jobe said.
No homes were bought on the south section of Monte Ne Road that extends from Gum Street to New Hope Road, Glass said.
“We only had to buy 33 small sections of land for the road on the south end of the project,” said Glass, who is managing that portion of the work.
The city acquired 25 of those smaller sections for $40,788. Negotiation is in progress for the remaining eight properties, Glass added.
Engineers from McGoodwin, Williams & Yates and Garver Engineers said Thursday design work on the Monte Ne project is 90 percent complete. Chris Bracket, an engineer with the McGoodwin firm, is the designer of the north section of the project.
“We say the project is 90 percent complete but really it only needs a few minor changes to be complete,” Bracket said. “We can’t finish until the city has acquired all of the property along the right of way. Once the property is bought we’ll have the final plan ready in just a couple of days.”
Ron Petrie, with Garver Engineers, designer of the south section of Monte Ne, said much the same thing.
“We will have some soil testing to do before we complete the design, but it won’t take long for us to complete the design once the right of way is acquired.”
City officials hope to acquire all the remaining Monte Ne property by the end of the year, Glass said.
“If everything goes right, we could start construction on the Monte Ne project in the spring,” he said.
Widening First Street from two to five lanes lags well behind the Monte Ne project, Glass said
“We had planned to do the First Street project first, but it didn’t work that way,” Glass said. “We just got behind on property acquisition. We are going to ask another land acquisition company to start working on the First Street project.”
City officials normally hire an outside firm to buy right of way property.
“We don’t have the time or the expertise to buy right of way property for large projects,” Glass said. City officials establish a contract with various land acquisition company based on the number of parcels to be purchase. The cost of the contract with those acquiring the land varies. A normal rate is $350 per day, Jobe said. A recent project took 40 days to complete.
First Street isn’t as difficult a project, Glass said. Two houses may have to be razed for the project. Only small strips of land were needed from the other properties along the route.