SPRINGDALE -- A regional planning committee narrowed a list of potential highway projects Thursday to be submitted to highway officials for long-term planning.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has begun updating its transportation plan annually. The state's list of projects is compiled using local input from groups such as the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. Projects must be on the state list to be eligible for state and federal highway money.
"We're going to be having this discussion every year," said Tim Conklin, senior planner at regional planning. "Each year we'll revisit and reschedule."
The commission's Technical Advisory Committee took a list of projects for the years 2021-30, worth an estimated $345 million, from the region's 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan and recommended three for the Highway Department's 2021 list. They are:
• Widening Arkansas 102 in Benton County to five lanes between Arkansas 279B and Arkansas 102B. The estimated cost is $22 million.
• Widening West Monroe Avenue in Lowell to five lanes between Goad Springs Road and Bellview Road. The estimated cost is $9 million.
• Widening Razorback Road in Fayetteville to five lanes from Leroy Pond Road to Maple Street. The estimated cost is $6.5 million.
The recommendation will go to the full planning commission for consideration next week.
Conklin said those projects are more likely to be ready for construction by 2021. Conklin said the list is fluid and can be amended if a project falls through or regional priorities change.
The Razorback Road project could come off the list if a deal to transfer the road to Fayetteville comes to fruition. Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas and the Highway Department have been working on a deal to finish the project and designate it a city street rather than a state highway.
Widening all or portions of Arkansas 112 between Fayetteville and Bentonville, creating a western north-south corridor could be added, depending on priorities.
The committee also recommended approving an amendment to the 2016-20 Transportation Plan to add several projects across the line in Missouri. McDonald County is part of the Northwest Arkansas Metropolitan Planning Area. Missouri would pay for the projects that are primarily safety and maintenance items.
The Missouri portion of the Bella Vista Bypass between Pineville, Mo., and the state line is on the list for 2020 but a Missouri Department of Transportation official said they're still some $30 million short.
NW News on 10/21/2016