Residents Review Street Project

City Officials Plan To Widen Laurel Avenue Into Three Lanes

— Laurel Avenue residents asked dozens of questions Thursday as they got their first look at a proposed street widening project.

City officials plan to widen two-lane Laurel Avenue into a three-lane street from Eighth Street to 26th Street with curb and gutter and storm water drains.

Most of the residents attending the public hearing were in favor of the project.

“Looking at the big picture I think it’s a good project and will benefit the public,” said Ron Young, who lives west of Eighth Street on Laurel Avenue.

At A Glance

Street Project

The Laurel Avenue widening project will be part of the $100 million street improvements promised in the 2011 bond election, approved by voters. Residents approved extending a 1 percent sales tax to pay for $135.4 million in capital improvement bonds. About $18 million has been spend on park projects, including the regional sports park and the aquatic center. An additional $6 million was spent by the Police and Fire departments for vehicles.

Source: Staff Report

“It’s a good project, but I really don’t want to lose any of my property,” he added, summing up what many of the property owners said.

Not everyone was pleased with the project.

Claude Noland, who owns agricultural land on Laurel Avenue questioned city officials at length regarding the amount of property they planned to take for the project. Noland said he wasn’t satisfied with the project and planned to contact his attorney.

Laurel Avenue runs alongside a couple of upscale gated subdivisions on the north side of the street and mostly pasture land on the south side.

The project is divided into two phases. Phase 1 is from Eighth Street to Dixieland Road and Phase 2 is from Dixieland Road to 26th Street.

A roundabout is planned for the intersection of Dixieland Road and Laurel Avenue.

Cathy Richter stood in front of and studied two large drawings of the proposed roundabout for several minutes Thursday at Rogers High School where the public hearing was held.

“I think the roundabout will be all right,” Richter said after a few minutes of study.

“It probably will be better than the four-way stop sign that’s there now, because many people don’t really stop,” she added.

She expressed concern the roundabout is close to Rogers High School, and she said she wasn’t sure how well teenage drivers would handle the roundabout.

Max Miller, who lives on another part of Laurel Avenue, and Richter struck up a conversation about the roundabout.

Both agreed it would probably help traffic flow, but it would take some getting use to.

“I lived in Seattle, and they have a lot of roundabouts there,” Miller said.

“After you get used to them, they really work well and keep the traffic moving, but you do have to pay attention when you enter and exit the roundabout,” Miller added.

McClelland Consulting Engineering, the company that designed the roundabout and the section of road from Dixieland Road to 26th Street, added some art panels in the center of the roundabout.

Eight 12-foot-wide and 8-foot-tall panels will consist of a variety of colored tiles, said Kevin Beaumount, with McClelland Engineering.

“The panel are just art work, something to dress up the middle of the roundabout,” Beaumont added.

Construction on the project isn’t expected to begin until 2015, city officials said.

“This project has been on the master street plan for several years,” said Lance Jobe, a project engineer for the city.

“It will provide additional east and west connectivity on the south side of town. We expect development will continue in that area and this street will provide better traffic flow,” Jobe added.

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