Sidewalk Spending To Grow

More Than 20 Miles Planned This Year And Next

Transportation Division workers build a new sidewalk Tuesday on the east side of Willow Avenue between Lafayette and Maple streets.
Transportation Division workers build a new sidewalk Tuesday on the east side of Willow Avenue between Lafayette and Maple streets.

— Mayor Lioneld Jordan wants to increase spending on sidewalks using the city’s share of a new statewide half-cent sales tax.

At A Glance

Paving The Walkways

More than five miles of repairs or new sidewalk construction is planned in 2013.

Ward 1

-Armstrong Avenue (15th Street to Borick Drive) — 3,550 feet

-Ashwood Avenue (18th Street to Razorback Road) — 1,900 feet

-Dickson Street (Washington Avenue to Fletcher Avenue) — 1,750 feet

-Huntsville Road (Morningside Drive to Happy Hollow Road) — 3,925 feet

Total — 11,125 feet

Ward 2

-Ash Street (Rayview Drive to Walnut Avenue) — 480 feet

-Leverett Avenue (Cleveland Street to Maple Street) — 2,650 feet

-North Street (Vandeventer Avenue to Shady Lane) — 310 feet

-Sycamore Street (College Avenue to Walnut Avenue) — 300 feet

-Walnut Avenue (Ash Street to Sycamore Street) — 1,100 feet

-Woolsey Avenue (North Street to Prospect Street) — 1,285 feet

Total — 6,125 feet

Ward 3

-Azalea Terrace (Country Way to Robin Road) — 950 feet

-Country Way (Azalea Terrace to Gulley Park) — 1,450 feet

-Maintenance Repairs (Various Locations) — 250 feet

-Terry Drive (Township Street to Stewart Street) — 940 feet

-Warwick Drive (Oak Bailey Drive to existing sidewalk) — 525 feet

-Wayne Drive (Village Drive to Appleby Road) — 200 feet

-Woodland Avenue (Poplar Street to Sycamore Street) — 200 feet

Total — 4,515 feet

Ward 4

Cleveland Street (Sang Avenue to Hall Avenue) — 250 feet

-Hotz Drive (Palmer Avenue to Razorback Road) — 830 feet

-Maintenance Repairs (Various Locations) — 250 feet

-Salem Road (Old Town Lane to Earnhardt Drive) — 460 feet

-Salem Road (Bentgrass Road to Clabber Creek Boulevard) — 317 feet

-Cross Avenue (Halsell Road to Markham Road) — 650 feet

-Halsell Road (Sang Avenue to Cross Avenue) — 725 feet

-Salem Road (Clearwood Drive to Mount Comfort Road) — 1,286 feet

-Sang Avenue (Loren Circle to Halsell Road) — 815 feet

Total — 5,583 feet

Source: City Of Fayetteville

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Jordan said. “We didn’t have a good funding source, but I wanted to build more sidewalks than what we’ve been doing.”

Jordan’s goal is to put sidewalk construction on par with the city’s budget for trails. Aldermen approved a $1.5 million capital budget for trail construction this year. About $615,000 was set aside for sidewalks, according to Terry Gulley, Transportation Services director.

Transportation crews will continue to focus on sidewalks within a half-mile of schools. They’ll also work to connect existing sidewalks and to build new paths to the trails system.

“That’s the No. 1 concern I’ve heard is that you can’t walk from a neighborhood” to get to the trails, Brenda Boudreaux, former Ward 1 alderwoman for 12 years, said Thursday. Boudreaux advocated for more money for sidewalks during last year’s budget hearings.

Voters approved the sales tax in November, and the money can be used for any surface transportation projects, said Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

Residents will begin paying the tax July 1. Cities and counties will start receiving their shares in late September, Straessle said. Fayetteville expects to get $430,000 this year and $1.3 million in 2014.

More than five miles of new or improved sidewalks are planned this year, and Gulley has his sights set on 15 miles next year.

He said the city typically budgets for four to five miles of sidewalks annually and completes three to four.

“We always list a little more than we normally do,” he said.

This year’s plans include new sidewalks on four blocks on the south side of East Dickson Street; both sides of several blocks of Leverett Avenue; and the south side of Huntsville Road from Morningside Drive to Happy Hollow Road.

John Woodward, executive director for the Seven Hills Homeless Center, said Huntsville Road improvements will benefit people who use the center as well as southeast Fayetteville residents in general.

“I see lots of citizens walking on that road,” Woodward said. “It’s mostly 25 mph, but, regardless, it’s still dangerous for people to be walking without a sidewalk there.”

The construction list for 2014 includes a new sidewalk on the east side of School Avenue between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Ninth Street. The sidewalk is meant to serve as an alternate route for Frisco Trail users who want to avoid a tunnel that will be built under Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

More than half the projects planned for next year are along major road widenings being partly paid for with money from the Transportation Improvement Bond Program voters approved in 2006. Those projects include Cato Springs Road, Arkansas 16, Garland Avenue and Crossover Road.

The city could also receive up to $81,000 through a Safe Routes to School grant to build a pedestrian bridge over Clabber Creek. The bridge would connect two sidewalks that end at the creek on the west side of Salem Road near Holcomb Elementary School.

Sidewalks also can appear as development occurs. City officials often require private developers to pay for sidewalks around the perimeter of their projects.

Gulley said the Transportation Division will have to hire an outside contractor to help with increased construction, but details are yet to be decided.

City Council members are expected to consider the 2013 sidewalk plan at their March 5 meeting.

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