ROGERS -- The City Council accepted a bid for extending Pinnacle Hills Parkway and Highland Knolls Road after about a dozen residents spoke both for and against the project Tuesday during the council's regular meeting.
In an unanimous vote, the council approved contracting Fochtman Enterprises of Fayetteville for the $1.96 million project. The project will connect Pinnacle Hills Parkway from Pauline Whitaker Parkway to Pleasant Grove Road, said Nathan Becknell, Rogers project engineer. It also will expand Highland Knolls Road from the Highland Knolls neighborhood to the proposed Pinnacle Hills Parkway extension, he said.
Speaking against the project, Kara Arvidson, a resident of Highland Knolls neighborhood, said connecting Highland Knolls to Pinnacle Hills Parkway will bring more traffic to the now dead-end street.
"On that street alone there are 27 children and over half are under the age of 12," Arvidson said. "We believe the road will completely alter the landscape of our neighborhood."
Becknell said the road was "stubbed out" for the purpose of connecting to other roads or neighborhoods in the future. Such dead ends shouldn't be confused with cul-de-sacs, he said.
Residents were once told the stub would lead to another phase of the Highland Knolls neighborhood, Becknell said.
"It was platted in 1997," Becknell said. "It has been that way for almost two decades."
Expansion of Highlands Knolls Road will provide a fourth exit from Highlands Knolls and The Manors on Blossom Way Creek neighborhoods. The two neighborhoods border each other.
Joe Farnan, a resident of The Manors neighborhood, said a fourth exit from the neighborhoods is needed. Traffic backs up at the existing three exits, he said.
Highlands Knolls has 205 houses, and there are 86 homes in The Manors neighborhood, he said. Expansion of Highlands Knolls Road will be the only exit to the west, he said.
"We think a fourth exit will alleviate congestion," Farnan said.
Officials with The Manors neighborhood association presented a resolution of support for expansion of the road. Arvidson presented the board with a petition against the expansion she said was signed by a majority of Highlands Knolls residents.
Tom Jenkins, Rogers Fire Department chief, said the Fire Department receives an average of 27 emergency fire and medical calls to the two neighborhoods annually. The department's ambulance that responds to calls in the neighborhood is located on Pinnacle Hills Parkway, west of the neighborhood, he said.
"This extension would help us do our job," Jenkins said.
Pinnacle Hills Parkway will be expanded 2,600 feet, Becknell said. It will be a five-lane road.
Expansion of Pinnacle Hills Parkway will keep traffic off Champions Drive, which was originally a county road, Becknell said. It wasn't developed to handle the traffic load it is currently seeing, about 5,800 vehicles a day, he said.
The city will need to acquire some rights of way before expanding Pinnacle Hills Parkway, Becknell said.
Teresa Moss can be reached by email at [email protected].
NW News on 01/14/2015