SPRINGDALE — Motorists using a cramped bridge over Interstate 540 could soon have more room to maneuver.
The City Council plans to vote today on sharing the cost with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to improve the bridge at the Elm Springs Road exit on I-540. The estimated cost is $5 million, with the city to contribute $1 million and the highway department $4 million, according to a letter from Scott Bennett, department director.
Meeting Information
Springdale City Council
When: 6 p.m. Tuesday
Where: City Council Chambers, City Administration Building
On the agenda:
-Demolition of 317 E. Emma Ave., the Brown Hatchery building
-An interlocal agreement for hazardous materials spills in Washington County
-Approval to use federal aid to build a Razorback Greenway trailhead on Sanders Avenue
Elm Springs Road, with five lanes approaching the bridge from the east, narrows going over the interstate to four lanes.
“We’ve improved both sides of that road,” said Mayor Doug Sprouse. “Now we’ve got a bottleneck on the bridge.”
Jack Clark, a Springdale resident, travels the bridge every day. Improvements are much needed, he said.
“There are wrecks all the time,” Clark said “If you don’t drive over the bridge regularly you don’t know where the lanes go.”
The bridge has four lanes, two eastbound but only one westbound. The other lane is for vehicles turning south for the entry ramp to I-540. Vehicles in the turn lane change lanes abruptly to continue going west.
“We had already scheduled improvements to the bridge,” said Dick Trammel, Arkansas State Highway commissioner. “By partnering with the city, we can start on the project quickly and the city can get what they want.”
The improvements will be a highway department project, Sprouse said, but the design should include a sidewalk that can be used for the city’s trail system. The highway department plans to improve the ramps at the exit and widen the interstate to six lanes.
“It seemed like a good time to push for the bridge improvements,” Sprouse said.”
The west side of the interchange has started to develop, said Larry Williams, co-owner of Macadoodles liquor store.
“If the bridge isn’t improved, we’ll reach gridlock here,” Williams said. “That would kill any additional development.”
Walmart announced it will build a new store to the northwest of the bridge, across Elm Springs Road from Macadoodles. Other businesses are rumored to be buying land in the area, Williams said.
“Construction will hurt us but I’d rather take the short-time hurt to have a long-term benefit,” Williams said.
The city would use money from its bond sale to pay its share, Sprouse said. The bond program raised $42.7 million for street projects. The bond will be repaid with an existing 1 percent sales tax.
The Don Tyson Interchange on I-540 is the top project for the bonds, at an estimated $25 million cost. Other Don Tyson Parkway projects approved by the council are widening between Carley Road and 40th Street and extending the parkway from Hylton Road to Habberton Road.
The project also would improve 56th Street near Arvest Ballpark and extend the street north from Sunset Avenue to Elm Springs Road, Sprouse said.