Upgrading Arkansas 89 and related roads in north Pulaski County to provide central Arkansas an east-west route between U.S. 67/167 at Cabot and Interstate 40 at Mayflower would cost an estimated $180.8 million.
Building a proposed 14.1-mile extension west from Mayflower to Dave Ward Drive in Conway would cost an additional $72.6 million, according to a study on the corridor. The study is jointly sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Transportation and Metroplan, the long-range transportation planning agency for central Arkansas.
The Arkansas 89 corridor is being looked at as an alternative to the once-proposed North Belt Freeway, which was abandoned as too costly. Improving the Arkansas 89 corridor, even including the west-side extension to Dave Ward Drive, has a total estimated price tag of $253.4 million, which is less than half of the $600 million estimated to build the North Belt.
The North Belt was envisioned as an interstate, using exit and entrance ramps to control access. The Arkansas 89 corridor would be built to less-than-interstate standards, but the standards would be higher than what's on the roads in the area now.
The recommendation is for the corridor to be a mix of four, three and two lanes, and include room for bicyclists.
Jeff Pierce, an engineer with Garver -- an interdisciplinary engineering firm based in North Little Rock -- briefed the region's mayors, county judges and other officials on the status of the corridor study at a meeting Wednesday at Metroplan offices in Little Rock.
Pierce and his team also held a public meeting Wednesday night in Jacksonville and are scheduled to hold a second one today in Mayflower.
A final draft of the study will be submitted to the Arkansas Highway Commission for approval. Typically, once that is done, the project would be built as funds become available.
The main section of the route between Cabot and Mayflower is 27.7 miles long and would be built in stages over several years under a scenario Pierce sketched out Wednesday.
Under the plan, the 2.3-mile section east from the U.S. 67/167/Arkansas 89 interchange to Arkansas 5 would be built first because it is the busiest section of the corridor and has the worst crash rates.
A 4.4-mile section of Republican Road between Arkansas 107 and Arkansas 89 would be improved next, according to the analysis. Although, it says, "it is possible that improved signage from the county line to [Little Rock Air Force Base] would be sufficient [in that area] until funding is available for construction."
The analysis recommends next improving a 10.9-mile section from Mayflower to Arkansas 89/Republican Road in two stages. The first would be from Interstate 40 to Clinton Road, built as a three-lane roadway. The second would be from Clinton Road to the Pulaski County line, which would be two lanes.
The final section that would be between I-40 and U.S. 67/167. It would be a 10.1-mile section east from Arkansas 5 to the Faulkner County line using a mix of Arkansas 89, Batesville Pike and Tates Mill Road. It is the only section that's largely in Pulaski County.
"This would be the final segment to complete the continuous arterial from I-40 to Highway 67," the analysis said. "As with the previous segment, right of way could be purchased for four lanes, with only two lanes being constructed until traffic warrants four lanes."
Lastly, the section from Mayflower west to Dave Ward Drive would be built as a two-lane roadway.
"This segment is not currently showing a need from a traffic standpoint, but could be constructed if volumes increase significantly after the Mayflower railroad overpass is in place," according to the analysis.
The project doesn't have unanimous support along the route, which puts its future in question.
Cabot Mayor Bill Cypert and Mayflower Mayor Randy Holland back the project and attended Wednesday's meeting.
"It's being sensibly evaluated, we're getting data," Cypert said. "We all need to digest that data and look at it and strategically plan for it. I still think it's a good project. We need to keep it alive and see if we can make it happen."
Holland said developing the corridor would benefit the entire region.
"It's huge, not just for Mayflower but for all of central Arkansas," he said. "Everybody from Wooster, Greenbrier and Conway on this side, and look at Jacksonville, Sherwood, even Searcy. It makes that connection that really needs to happen to get central Arkansas on the right track and connecting east and west."
Pulaski County's County Judge Barry Hyde, who didn't attend the meeting, opposes the project.
"There's just no benefit to Pulaski County ... there's not any traffic crossing the north part of the county," he said. "There's no desire. We did a town-hall [meeting] several months ago attended by 35 or 40 people who signed a petition opposing it."
While traffic is heavy on both ends of the project, it dwindles down to less than 1,800 vehicles a day in the middle section, according to traffic counters Pulaski County set up, Hyde said.
"There's no demand," he said. "What would happen to these folks is they would end up giving up right of way for a four-lane road. Even though they might not build a four-lane road tomorrow, that's what the Highway Department would do, start taking that right of way.
"The people in north Pulaski adamantly oppose that," he said.
If anything, the study has "shined a light on that part of the county" and highlighted the importance of the continued development of Arkansas 107, a busy north-south connection, he said.
Hyde said his constituents in the north part of the county would prefer that improvements continue north on Arkansas 107. The improvements now end at General Samuels Road, which is south of the back gate of Little Rock Air Force Base.
"People who live in Mayflower or Conway or Greenbrier or any of that area up there who come to the air base, well, once they get to the Pulaski County line, they wiggle their way down to Highway 107 and then take that to the back gate. That's how they get into the base.
"I can't tell that all, but I can tell you with a lot of confidence that most, of that 1,700 cars are people headed to the base. They are not from Mayflower headed to Cabot or Beebe."
Hyde said he is unsure whether his opposition will be enough to ensure that no money can be spent on the project. He, Cypert and Holland are members of Metroplan, which is helping pay for the study. Metroplan typically forges unanimous support among stakeholders for regionally significant projects.
"I'm assuming I would, but that's really kind of unclear," Hyde said. "I will tell you that Pulaski County has no intention of contributing to any such project."
Metro on 05/31/2018