Approaching its final stages of construction, a long-awaited road extension that is supposed to lead toward a planned interchange for Interstate 40 near Maumelle and part of western North Little Rock now seems more like reality than a dream, officials in both cities said.
The U.S. House of Representatives first approved a federal highway bill in 2005 for a "third entrance" into Maumelle, something city officials had envisioned for at least 10 years before that.
"I tell people that when I ran for mayor 11 years ago, if you had told me it would take 10 years to get this built, I would have told you that was crazy," Maumelle Mayor Mike Watson said Friday. "It's crazy how long it's taken. Part of it is funding, and part of it is getting through the red tape. Now I can actually see it."
The Counts Massie Road extension, which passes through both cities -- even serving as a boundary between the cities at one portion -- will have paving of asphalt begin this week on the Maumelle portion, weather permitting, and should be finished by the end of the month, Watson said. The work began in June 2016.
In North Little Rock, the City Council will consider a contract today for its $445,131 share of the $1.04 million project.
Maumelle is responsible for $240,763, and $357,000 has been acquired from the former Counts Massie/Collins Road Improvement District No. 1.
Bob Kennedy Construction of B̶o̶n̶ ̶A̶q̶u̶a̶,̶ ̶T̶e̶n̶n̶.̶,̶ Quitman* submitted the low bid for the North Little Rock contract. The full extension goes to Short Marche Road.
"We are awarding the contract on Monday," Chris Wilbourn, North Little Rock's chief city engineer, said Friday. "It [construction] should be done within six months. It will be complete up to where the highway department would take it up."
The road extension and interchange are separate projects, but each is needed for the other to have a reason to exist. The Arkansas Department of Transportation needed the Counts Massie extension before it could build the interchange that will connect to it.
"The interchange is 60 percent through design," Watson said. "We've turned in plans, and those are being reviewed by the Highway Department. We're going to get it designed by next year, but we still don't have funding for it."
The interchange is projected to cost $12.2 million, according to the design plans, Watson said, including a 5 percent contingency.
The connection with I-40 via Counts Massie Road to the increasingly congested Maumelle Boulevard, also called Arkansas 100, is expected to provide some traffic relief for Maumelle commuters and some development opportunities along the new road.
The two ends of Maumelle Boulevard -- one meeting I-430 and the other Arkansas 365 -- provide the only ways in and out of Maumelle. There are also North Little Rock residential, retail and commercial properties on and near the four-lane divided highway as it passes through both cities.
"It's a vital leg," Wilbourn said of the new extension. "There are developers already looking at doing developments along that stretch. I think everybody thinks that making that connection to I-40 with an intersection there might help traffic volume during peak hours on Maumelle Boulevard. "
The interchange's cost could fall completely on Maumelle's shoulders, Watson said, unless some state or federal funding comes along. Watson told his City Council last week that its options at the moment are using about $9.6 million in general fund and street fund reserves or possibly asking Maumelle voters for a one-half percentage point city sales tax increase. No decisions have been made, he said.
"I threw out that maybe we could do a half-cent sales tax to pay for it," Watson said, noting that North Little Rock voters approved a 1 percentage point sales tax increase Tuesday. "We just may try to keep up with big brother there."
Maumelle voters in October 2012 approved extending a 6.6-mill property tax rate to support a $15.54 million bond package that included the Counts Massie extension.
Because the two cities bump up against each other along a ragged borderline, a section of the new Counts Massie Road will divide the two cities at the street's centerline.
"The north side of it is in Maumelle and the south side is North Little Rock," Watson said. "We're going to have to overlay it at the same time. It's probably not a good practice, but it happens."
Metro on 08/14/2017
*CORRECTION: Bob Kennedy Construction of Quitman was the low bidder for a contract awarded by North Little Rock for the extension of Counts Massie Road. A previous version of this article listed an incorrect city for the company.