Centerton Highway Widening Nears Completion

CENTERTON — The widening of East Centerton Boulevard/Southwest 14th Street from Greenhouse Road in Bentonville to Main Street in Centerton may have been completed before the new year if it wasn’t for bad weather, said Mayor Bill Edwards.

Snow and ice received earlier this month slowed work; however, the project looks to be completed on time.

At A Glance

The 102 Project

Widening of Centerton Boulevard/Southwest 14th Street, also known as Arkansas 102, between Greenhouse Road in Bentonville and Main Street in Centerton began in September 2012. APAC Construction has 210 working days to add three lanes to the two-lane highway. According to the contract, the contractor will receive $6,000 for each day it finishes early and will be fined $7,900 for each day it goes over the contract period.

Source: Staff Report

“We think they’ll be done by the spring,” Edwards said. “They’re way ahead of schedule.”

There isn’t a fixed date, but the most recent estimated date for completion is April 28, 2014, said Steve Lawrence, Arkansas District 9 highway engineer.

APAC Construction is the contractor widening the state highway, also known as Arkansas 102, from two lanes to five lanes. Two lanes will travel in each direction with a center turn lane. The project has been on the Highway Department’s radar since 2006, but work didn’t start until September 2012.

So far, APAC has used 78 percent of the time allotted in the contract to finish the project and has completed 77 percent of the work, according to Lawrence.

“They’re exactly on time,” he said.

However, Dec. 21 through March 15 is considered “free time” where any time the contractor works isn’t counted against the days allotted in the contract. If the weather is nice, workers can get ahead, but they don’t fall behind if weather is bad and work can’t be done, Lawrence said.

“They’ll be ahead of schedule by the time we get through winter,” he said. “Once they get some good weather, if they pursue the project, it should go fairly quickly.”

There’s some tie-in work regarding curbs and storm drains needing to be completed, but it’s mainly paving work that’s left, Lawrence said.

As of Thursday, APAC had used 164 of the 210 working days in the contract and completed slightly more than $5 million of the $6.6 million project, according to Lawrence. The $6.6 million is for the construction portion. The total project cost is about $12 million, which includes engineering, design, utility moving and right of way acquisition.

The widening is needed to help keep up with area growth, Edwards said. He estimated Centerton grows by about 1,000 people per year.

“Our traffic gets pretty backed up out there,” he said. “There’s 18,000 to 20,000 cars that go by that spot every day. That’s going to help relieve a lot of traffic.”

Tammy Harris said she’ll be glad once the construction is finished.

“I’ve lived in this area all my life, and to see the traffic of what it used to be to what it is now, we need bigger and better roads,” she said. “Before they started construction, it was backed up bumper-to-bumper traffic for two to three miles sometimes.”

Harris is the general manager at Jim’s Razorback Pizza adjacent to the White Oaks Station on Centerton Boulevard. As far as how the construction has affected the business — it’s helped it, at least during the lunch hour, she said.

There’s usually three to 10 construction workers who will visit the restaurant for lunch; however, construction and traffic has made it difficult for delivery drivers to get out in the evening, especially between 5 to 7 p.m., Harris said.

Harris is concerned about losing her new lunch regulars when the highway is compete, “but I’m hoping it’ll pick up the rest of business because people will find it easier to get in and out,” she said. “I’ll be glad when they get it done. I think it’s moving this area forward where it needs to be.”

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