Lowell aldermen reversed Tuesday an earlier decision not to participate in a road grant program to extend Dixieland Street from Monroe Street to Apple Blossom Road.
Aldermen voted 4-1 last week against the grant, saying they didn’t like the route shown on the map, nor did they want to commit to spending $90,000 — 20 percent of the projected $450,000 engineering cost. At a meeting Tuesday, aldermen voted 6-1 in favor of the project.
“I just had to give it one more shot, it’s too good of a deal to turn down,” said Mayor Eldon Long. “I’ve spent nearly two years trying to get involved in this program.”
The project is part of a federal Surface Transportation Grant Program administered through the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said Tim Conklin, transportation programs planner for the commission.
“We received $6.5 million for transportation projects this year to improve mobility and congestion on area roads. Lowell is one of the cities that applied for grant funding,” Conklin said.
The only other city to apply for the grant is Fayetteville, he said.
“We are looking for projects that connect north-south corridors with east-west corridors to improve connectivity between cities and ease traffic on Interstate 540 and U.S. 71B,” Conklin said.
Keith Williams, Lowell alderman, wasn’t present for the vote on the grant last week, but supported the program this week.
“We spent a lot of money bringing Dixieland Street from Dixieland Road in Rogers to Monroe Street in Lowell, without grant money. It’s a no-brainer to go for the grant money,” Williams said Wednesday.
Extending Dixieland has been on Lowell’s street plan for several years, Williams said. Extending the street will open up business opportunities for Lowell and should benefit Springdale as well.
“If Springdale would continue to extend the road, it would connect Springdale with an additional route all the way to Hudson Road in Rogers. The extension would be beneficial for the entire region,” Williams said.
Long said he was pleased aldermen jumped on the bandwagon.
“Anytime you can get an 80 percent grant to help a small city like Lowell it’s going to benefit the area,” Long said. “I think it just took some time and more explanation to bring aldermen around to accepting the grant program.
Lowell officials won’t know if the extension plan will be approved for at least four months, Conklin said.
The regional planning commission must first accept the application, said Conklin.
“It will be several months before the commission makes a decision on what projects to include, and as long as a year until the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, which will partner with the commission and the city, makes a decision on submitted projects,” Conklin said.