The North Belt Freeway -- with a cost exceeding $650 million -- no longer is in the long-range plans for central Arkansas, but that hasn't eliminated the interest in developing a key east-west corridor that would go through north Pulaski County.
Three of the region's mayors have formed a coalition to investigate the feasibility of improving a corridor generally aligned with Arkansas 89 between Cabot in Lonoke County and Mayflower in Faulkner County as an affordable alternative to the North Belt. The Highway 89 Coalition's first meeting is scheduled to be held next month.
"It's an idea worth exploring, to get straight-line connectivity from [U.S.] 67/167 to [Interstate] 40," Cabot Mayor Bill Cypert said Monday.
Such a corridor would give residents of Cabot another option to reach west Little Rock, provide north Pulaski residents easier access to U.S. 67/167 -- they now have to go to Vandenberg Boulevard at Little Rock Air Force Base -- and foster development between Jacksonville and Cabot if a new interchange is built between the two cities, he said.
The idea is in its nascent stages, but it merits a mention in the draft of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan for Imagine Central Arkansas, the long-range transportation plan for central Arkansas.
It noted that the North Belt Freeway, which was formally removed last year from the long-range plan, "may be reconsidered in the future if new funding is identified.
"In the meantime, improvements to Highway 89, construction of the Coffelt Crossing interchange in Jacksonville" and other proposed road improvements "have been added to the plan or given higher priority in the [North Belt's] absence."
Coffelt Crossing, an old, local and unimproved access to U.S. 67/167 between Cabot and Jacksonville that was closed in the 1980s because of safety concerns, has long been part of the conversation on proposed improvements in the area. But the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has no immediate plans to build an interchange at the location, said Randy Ort, an agency spokesman.
Coffelt Crossing "is positioned best to take advantage of the population" of the cities of Cabot and Jacksonville, said Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher. "I think we're going to be open to everything, but that's the most practical one."
Jacksonville has a population of almost 29,000 and Cabot has a population of almost 24,000, according to the Arkansas Municipal League.
The North Belt, a 13-mile route connecting U.S. 67/167 and Interstate 40 west through parts of Sherwood, Camp Robinson and North Little Rock, long has been deemed a regionally significant project.
Despite its price tag, the North Belt or some alternative is needed, regional transportation planners have said.
They've said that, if the North Belt isn't built, traffic volume, congestion and safety concerns would increase on U.S. 67/167, I-40, Arkansas 107 and other roads in the area; continue to restrict access from homes in the northeast part of the county to the jobs and services available in Maumelle and west Little Rock; and leave the region without the circumferential freeway system common in other urban areas.
Further, they have said, if the route isn't built, maintaining the existing and increasingly congested road system would be more difficult and costly. Also, vehicle operating costs would rise because of substandard roads, costs associated with congestion would increase, travel time for emergency services would increase and accessibility between the northeast and northwest parts of the county would be hampered, the planners have said.
Fletcher said the idea of improving existing roadways came from former Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines at a retreat that Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas, holds annually.
"Instead of building a new highway, why not use what we already have?" Fletcher said. The North Belt "was going to be local traffic, anyway."
According to Metroplan, the idea of forming the coalition came from U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., who expressed concern about state highway access for Mayflower after tornadoes that struck Mayflower and Vilonia last year.
Establishing the corridor would also integrate Mayflower more fully into the region, Fletcher said.
The coalition includes Cypert, Fletcher and Mayflower Mayor Randy Holland, all of whom are Metroplan board members.
Metro on 12/29/2015