While many people welcome road construction projects and the improvements they can bring, such work in heavily urban areas also can exact a heavy price for others.
An $8.9 million project to replace a 75-year-old bridge that carries traffic on MacArthur Drive over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in North Little Rock is forcing one longtime establishment out of business and may prompt another to close its doors.
The Gettin' Place deli and grocery at 5303 MacArthur Drive and the North Little Rock Trophy Co. at 4907 MacArthur Drive sit at opposite ends of the bridge, but both are in ideal locations to attract passers-by. Nearly 10,000 vehicles travel daily on the road, also called Arkansas 365. The projected traffic in 2035, the design year for the bridge, is 12,900 vehicles per day.
"It's a good spot," acknowledges Linda Sullivan, who has worked at the deli side of The Gettin' Place for six years.
The store remains busy for now, untouched by the construction. But its days are numbered as the parking lot for the deli has long been in the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's right of way, which is needed for the project.
"Even the construction workers have tried to figure out a way to keep us open," Sullivan said. "They eat here all the time. It's awful."
For Barry Fisher, the owner of North Little Rock Trophy Co., it is difficult to tell where his parking lot begins and the construction ends, save for some orange barrels. Construction machinery has been on the lot, making it difficult for customers to enter and leave his business.
"They keep telling me that they will make me accessible," he said. "They make me accessible after 5 o'clock when I'm gone."
Fisher said his business continues to rely on his regular customers, but drop-in business has dried up, resulting in business dropping by a third. "That's major for me."
The business has been in North Little Rock for 40 years. Fisher acquired it in 2012. It's been at its current location for 16 years, about the same time The Gettin' Place began operating. Fisher leases the property from the previous owner.
For years, even decades, both establishments have perhaps unwittingly abutted or intruded on property belonging to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
Being situated along a busy highway has its benefits in that a business can draw more customers than if located on a less-traveled side road, but businesses also must understand the risks associated with the location, which includes the possibility of widening or making improvements to the roadway, said Perry Johnston, head of the Highway Department's right of way division.
The division tries to help out businesses and residents where it can. It acquired a total of 1,003 tracts of land for $21.5 million in 2015, according to agency records.
The department also relocated 124 households and businesses and paid $1.5 million in relocation expenses. The entities relocated included 41 household owners or tenants and 83 business owners or tenants.
When the department builds a road, it typically purchases another property to have a buffer between the highway and adjoining properties.That buffer, called the right of way, also can be used to accommodate widening the road if it becomes necessary at some future date.
When it came time to replace the MacArthur Drive bridge -- it is considered safe but has been deemed structurally deficient -- the city of North Little Rock and Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas, recommended the two-lane bridge be replaced with a four-lane bridge that includes 5-foot sidewalks on either side as well as 3 feet of berm between the sidewalks and the travel lanes.
The department eventually acquired some property, a total of 34,000 square feet, or less than an acre, for the project. The property acquired included nearly 10,000 feet from a used car lot that also had been using department right of way for part of its business, according to agency officials.
The original plans for the project called to take a total of 1,454 square feet of the parking lot for North Little Rock Trophy Co. That triggered a meeting between a department employee and Fisher over the possibility of relocating his business.
But a more refined design resulted in the department requiring just 397 square feet of the parking lot for the project at a cost of $1,100, paid to the owner of the small strip shopping center that houses the North Little Rock Trophy Co. It also purchased a temporary construction easement for $700 from the shopping center owner that allows the contractor to use the easement for its machinery for the length of the project, which appears to be the source of consternation for Fisher.
That small of an impact on the parking lot precluded the department from relocating the business. Fisher has appealed the department's decision. An administrative hearing on the appeal likely will be held some time next month, Johnston said.
Fisher has enlisted elected officials, from the governor on down, for his cause.
Meanwhile, the department is also unable to help the deli.
Nate Williams, who heads the agency's relocation section, said the department has to purchase rights of way to trigger the possibility of helping to relocate a business. In the case of the deli, its parking lot already belonged to the department.
Sullivan said the deli's operation remains "day to day."
"If [our customers] can't get in here, we can't stay open," she said.
North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith, who has been friends with Fisher for years, is sympathetic to his plight and that of the deli's owners, Tony and Sandy Runions.
"It's a shame," Smith said. "They're all good people. We understand any project like this is going to have some pain with it."
Smith plans to help Fisher with his appeal. "I am certainly willing to help our business people fight the fight."
The project isn't scheduled to be completed until mid-2018.
Fisher thought his years in athletics through the Boys and Girls Club and other sports programs would be a perfect fit for running a trophy business.
"I just didn't realize it was going to turn out like this," he said.
Metro on 07/18/2016