FAYETTEVILLE -- A motorcade carrying dignitaries and members of Arkansas' congressional delegation pulled up Wednesday to a sunny spot in north Fayetteville.
Speeches were made. A ribbon was cut.
And with that, drivers began using Fayetteville's "flyover" bridge, a long-awaited project connecting College Avenue to the Fulbright Expressway and to streets south of the Northwest Arkansas Mall.
The bridge, designed by Jacobs Engineering Group of Fayetteville and constructed by Emery Sapp & Sons of Columbia, Mo., is intended to alleviate congestion and awkward traffic movements at College Avenue and Joyce Boulevard.
"I won't have to make U-turns anymore," Dick Trammel, state highway commissioner, said during Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The project is also expected to improve access to businesses along Mall Avenue and Shiloh Drive.
Workers at Olive Garden, 3616 Mall Ave., stayed throughout the ceremony and waved to some of the first drivers to traverse the new bridge.
Justin Tennant, Ward 3 alderman, said the project won't just benefit existing businesses. "It's also an economic engine for this part of town," he said.
Steve Clark, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, mentioned an Aug. 13 groundbreaking for a Whole Foods Market at College Avenue and Masonic Drive, less than a quarter-mile from where the bridge begins.
"They're coming because of this project," Clark said.
The $6.3 million construction project was paid for using a federal earmark procured by U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., former Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and then 3rd District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, in 2005. A $65.9 million bond program approved by Fayetteville voters in 2006 covered 20 percent of construction costs. Boozman now holds Lincoln's seat in the Senate.
"This is an example of how, if we work together, we can get a lot of great things done," Pryor said Wednesday.
"It's taken a long time, but it was certainly worth the effort," Boozman said.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan said he expects to cut the ribbon on a extended and widened Van Asche Drive west of the mall within the next year.
"This project is not just about Fayetteville, although it's located in Fayetteville," Jordan said. "We are celebrating its completion because of the contribution of many partners who made it possible."
NW News on 07/03/2014