Bentonville's Eighth Street project designs amended

BENTONVILLE -- Modifications to the Eighth Street Improvement Project designs will cost more than $200,000, but much of that will be reimbursed by federal money.

City Council approved 8-0 at its Tuesday meeting to pay Burns & McDonnell Engineering $234,268 for additional services and scope of work for a project that's been in the works for 10 years. There was no discussion before council members voted.

Council Action

Bentonville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:

• Property line adjustment at 402 S. Main St.

• Rezoning Lot 8 of Morrison Heights 2 on Oakwood Avenue from single family residential to duplex and patio home residential.

• Rezoning the southeast corner of the intersection of Southwest B and Southwest 4th streets from single family residential to downtown edge.

• Rezoning 7647 S.W. Regional Airport Road from single family residential to light industrial.

• Vacating a utility easement in Lot 18 of Blueberry Heights Subdivision.

• Setting a public hearing for Aug. 11 regarding an alley and street right of way in W.A. Burks Addition.

• Buying streambank mitigation credit requirements by the Corps of Engineers for the Tributary 2 Drainage Project from the Natural State Stream Land Company for $42 per credit for a total of $414,666.

• Spending $345,000 to buy and equip seven 2016 Chevrolet Tahoes for the Police Department.

• Shredding 63 boxes of old city records.

Source: Staff Report

"It qualifies for 80 percent reimbursement so it's not that much out of pocket for us," Mike Churchwell, transportation director, said after the meeting.

The Eighth Street Improvement Project was announced in 2005. It runs along South Eighth Street from I-49 west to Southwest I Street. It includes constructing a new interchange at I-49 and widening Eighth Street to five lanes from I-49 to Moberly Lane, according to the city's website. It also includes widening it to four lanes with a raised median between Moberly Lane and Southwest I Street.

Some of the design changes listed in the supplemental agreement with the engineers include the realignment of Eighth Street, the addition of a 10-foot-wide trail on the street's south side from Southwest I Street to Moberly Lane, the removal of two bridge crossing the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad and the removal of the former armory at the intersection of Southwest Eighth and South Main streets.

Only the building closest to the intersection will be removed. The building where the Bomb Squad operates will remain, Churchwell said.

The modifications have been made and have already been approved by the Federal Highway Administration and the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, Churchwell said.

The city should finalize the right-of-way acquisitions "relatively soon," according to Mayor Bob McCaslin.

He said he's hopeful moving utilities will begin before the year's end. That process is expected to take at least a year. It will be "deep into 2017 or early 2018" before dirt will begin to move for construction, he said.

The project's current estimate is $53 million. It will be paid for with federal, state, city and Wal-Mart money.

"This is a project of a size that most city transportation directors never deal with," Bill Burckart, Ward 3 alderman, said after the meeting.

It's a challenge to incorporate aspects of other plans, like the SE Downtown Area Plan, the city has adopted into a project that moves slowly, Burckart said. The trails weren't a city focus when the Eighth Street Improvement Project began in 2005, but now a six-foot-wide side walk will be a 10-foot-wide trail.

"It's hard to move something like this as quickly as our city's moving," he said.

The number one issue in the city is traffic, and there are limited options to make large improvements such as the Eighth Street project will make, Churchwell said.

"It'll be a really good project when it's over with," he said. "There's just got a lot of moving parts."

NW News on 07/29/2015

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