City To Add Projects To Bond Program

Rupple, Razorback Roads Listed As Top Priorities

— Members of the City Council’s Street Committee are working to prioritize a list of new projects that could be funded through the Transportation Improvement Bond Program voters approved in 2006.

The $65.9 million bond program has paid or is paying for a variety of street work, including Mount Comfort Road, Garland Avenue and Cato Springs Road widening; College Avenue beautification; and a traffic roundabout in front of Washington Regional Medical Center.

At A Glance

Projects

Fayetteville staff members prioritized the following nine projects as work that could be funded through the Transportation Improvement Bond Program voters approved in 2006.

Rupple Road — Best Friend Lane to Mount Comfort Road

Razorback Road (Arkansas 112) — Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Leroy Pond Drive

Old Wire Road — Mission Boulevard to Township Street

Zion Road — Vantage Drive to Crossover Road

Huntsville Road (Arkansas 16) — Stone Bridge Road to the West Fork of the White River

Regional Park Access — West of Cato Springs Road

College Avenue — Maple Street to Rebecca Street

College Avenue — Rebecca Street to North Street

Garland Avenue (Arkansas 112) — Interstate 540 to Howard Nickell Road/Van Asche Drive

Source: City Of Fayetteville

The first two phases of transportation bonds, issued in 2006 and 2009, generated $34.2 million, according to City Engineer Chris Brown. A third phase of bonds, which are set to be issued next year, are expected to generate $31.7 million. That money will pay to extend Van Asche Drive, continue widening Crossover Road and build a flyover bridge from northbound College Avenue to the Fulbright Expressway.

Brown told Street Committee members Monday that about $15.6 million should be leftover for other projects.

City officials budgeted $8.8 million in the bond program to cost-share with private developments. With a dearth of private construction in recent years, the city has not spent much of that money, Brown said.

The recent economic downturn also led to lower-than-expected bids on multiple projects, Brown said. Costs for Mount Comfort Road widening, for example, came in nearly $200,000 less than original estimates.

Savings have also come from removing one project — Garland Avenue widening north of Interstate 540 — from the bond program list. Brown said the need for the $3.5 million project was reduced when plans for a 1,712-unit residential development called Park West was not built. Brown added that the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is designing a new interchange at I-540 and Garland Avenue.

City staff members gave their priorities Monday for additional projects that could be paid for using transportation bond money.

Topping the list was a project that would realign Rupple Road south of Mount Comfort Road. Brown said the project would eliminate a dangerous intersection and would tie into the city’s plans to widen and extend Rupple Road from Howard Nickell Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Brown added that federal funding made available after Northwest Arkansas’ population reached 200,000 could be used for project design. He estimated the city’s share of design costs at $80,000.

Razorback Road widening from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Leroy Pond Drive could also be funded using the new pot of federal money. A local $520,000 match is required.

Also on the priority list were plans to improve Old Wire Road between Mission Boulevard and Crossover Road; build access roads to a regional park off Cato Springs Road; and extend College Avenue beautification north to North Street.

Street Committee chairman, Matthew Petty, suggested looking at intersections in town, such as Garland Avenue and North Street, that could benefit from new pedestrian crossings.

Ward 4 Alderwoman Rhonda Adams encouraged the committee to envision areas of town, such as Garland Avenue and Maple Street, that are likely to be developed in the years ahead.

“Sometimes it feels like we’re not talking about those things that we know now,” Adams said. “We’re looking at things that have been considered in the past.”

Ward 3 Alderman Justin Tennant said it’s difficult to set priorities without knowing each project’s cost.

Brown said he would work during the next month to come up with cost estimates. He said Monday the nine projects listed would far exceed the $15.6 million that could be available. Improving a 2 1/2 -mile stretch of Old Wire Road alone, from Mission Boulevard to Crossover Road, would cost more than $10 million, Brown said.

“Our goal is to have as many of these projects moving forward as we can,” he added, “so that when we do have the third bond issue in 2014, we’ll be ready to move forward right into construction and not be starting design.”

Street Committee members could make a final recommendation to the City Council within the next month.

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